Article
Surgical training before cochlear implant surgery by means of an Anatomic-Facsimile-Model (AFM) with authentic cavity structures of the human temporal bone
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Published: | August 3, 2011 |
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The effort for the development of surgical training models as a substitute for human temporal bone preparations goes back over 15 years. But previously specified models have several limitations. Firstly, this is due to the material used and the technology, secondly by a varying degree, lack of representation and technical elaboration of the complex structures of the mastoid cavity, the middle and the inner ear. This led to the development of plaster models with interactive components and also to models with other materials, but all these models do not sufficiently simulate the real anatomical structures.
By means of optimization of rapid prototyping methods and after two years, we are able to create a facsimile model, this involves the complex cavity structures of the temporal bone. Therefore, a representation of the cochlear cavity corresponding to the real anatomically model is possible. Thus, for the first time a realistic training of a cochlear implant surgery is possible with the introduction of an electrode. The contribution presents the first results.