Patient-Specific Simulation of Implant Placement and Function for Cochlear Implantation Surgery Planning

We present a framework for patient specific electrical stimulation of the cochlea, that allows to perform in-silico analysis of implant placement and function before surgery. A Statistical Shape Model (SSM) is created from high-resolution human μCT data to capture important anatomical details. A Finite Element Model (FEM) is built and adapted to the patient using the results of the SSM. Electrical simulations based on Maxwell's equations for the electromagnetic field are performed on this personalized model. The model includes implanted electrodes and nerve fibers. We present the results for the bipolar stimulation protocol and predict the voltage spread and the locations of nerve excitation.

[1]  Hans Martin Kjer,et al.  Cochlear finite element modelling, Mesh quality under SSM-Driven deformations , 2013 .

[2]  Dominik Obrist,et al.  Simulation of Fluid Flow and Basilar‐Membrane Motion in a Two‐Dimensional Box Model of the Cochlea , 2011 .

[3]  Mika Malinen,et al.  Elmer Models Manual , 2015 .

[4]  R. Schoonhoven,et al.  Potential distributions and neural excitation patterns in a rotationally symmetric model of the electrically stimulated cochlea , 1995, Hearing Research.

[5]  Gregory Valentini,et al.  Implications of Deep Electrode Insertion on Cochlear Implant Fitting , 2007, Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology.

[6]  William E. Lorensen,et al.  Marching cubes: A high resolution 3D surface construction algorithm , 1987, SIGGRAPH.

[7]  Travis E. Oliphant,et al.  Python for Scientific Computing , 2007, Computing in Science & Engineering.

[8]  Tiaan Krynauw Malherbe,et al.  Can subject-specific single-fibre electrically evoked auditory brainstem response data be predicted from a model? , 2013, Medical engineering & physics.

[9]  Guido Gerig,et al.  User-guided 3D active contour segmentation of anatomical structures: Significantly improved efficiency and reliability , 2006, NeuroImage.

[10]  Rasmus Larsen,et al.  Markov Random Field Surface Reconstruction , 2010, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics.

[11]  Andreas Büchner,et al.  Development of a Model of the Electrically Stimulated Cochlea , 2015 .

[12]  Filiep Vanpoucke,et al.  Assessing the Placement of a Cochlear Electrode Array by Multidimensional Scaling , 2012, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.