Artikel
SonoPointer® – a prototype ultrasound system for measuring skull bone thickness
SonoPointer® – Ein Prototyp zur Ultraschallbasierten Dickenmessung am Schädelknochen
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Autoren
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Philipp A. Federspil
- University Hospital Heidelberg, Otorhinolaryngology, Heidelberg, Germany
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Steffen H. Tretbar
- Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering IBMT, St. Ingbert, Germany
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Peter K. Plinkert
- University Hospital Heidelberg, Otorhinolaryngology, Heidelberg, Germany
| Veröffentlicht: | 7. September 2006 |
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Gliederung
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Introduction: For a variety of surgical procedures at the skull, it is of great interest to know the thickness of the skull bone, e.g. for craniotomy, osteosynthesis, calvarial split-bone harvesting, implantation of hearing devices, and implantation of percutaneous titanium fixtures for bone-anchored hearing aids and prostheses.
Materials and Method: The SonoPointer® consists of a Transmit Receive Module II and a 2.25 MHz ultrasound transducer integrated in a handpiece with a soft delay line. 16 human cadaveric skull bones preserved with formaldehyde were measured at 3 points each by ultrasound in water bath and with direct coupling as well as mechanically by callipers.
Results: Coded excitation was better than the use of conventional pulses. The average difference between the mechanical thickness and the coded excitation ultrasound method with direct coupling was 0.04 mm±0.62 mm. The 95% limits of agreement between the two methods were -1.18 mm and 1.25 mm. The limits of agreement for the two caliper measurements were as high as -0.4 mm and 0.42 mm.
Conclusion:The SonoPointer® is a promising tool for skull surgery by providing valuable information on skull bone thickness. Validation in vital human skull bone in an ex vivo setting will be the next step.
