Postoperative position control after CI implantation by 3D volume rendering cochlear implant reconstruction using flat detector computed tomography

Postoperative computed tomography (CT) position control of cochlear implants (CI) is part of the clinical routine. However only two-dimensional reconstruction is used, lacking additional information a third dimension can give.

The 4 patients presented in this study underwent CI surgery at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen and a single FD-CT run was performed to confirm the right postoperative location of the CI. The 20 second FD-CT run was performed on a monoplane angiography system. The acquired images were transformed to and the 3D volume rendering reconstruction was performed using a dedicated workstation running InSpace 3D software. Additionally we compared the images with the intraoperative Telemetry Evoked Compound Action Potentials (TECAP) and the postoperativ clinic of the patients. The post- and intraoperative TECAPs and the postoperativ clinic of the patients were unobtrusive and unspecified.

With 3D CI volume rendering reconstruction, we introduce a new method to confirm the right postoperative CI position in vivo precisely without additional radiation exposure by fusing two data sets of a single FD-CT run. Thereby the complex anatomy of the inner ear together with the accurate intracochlear implant is easily comprehensible for medical beginners and non-radiologists and can reasonable be demonstrated to the patients.

Publication History

Publication Date:
23 April 2019 (online)