Surgical Guidance for Removal of Cholesteatoma Using a Multispectral 3D-Endoscope

We develop a stereo-multispectral endoscopic prototype in which a filter-wheel is used for surgical guidance to remove cholesteatoma tissue in the middle ear. Cholesteatoma is a destructive proliferating tissue. The only treatment for this disease is surgery. Removal is a very demanding task, even for experienced surgeons. It is very difficult to distinguish between bone and cholesteatoma. In addition, it can even reoccur if not all tissue particles of the cholesteatoma are removed, which leads to undesirable follow-up operations. Therefore, we propose an image-based method that combines multispectral tissue classification and 3D reconstruction to identify all parts of the removed tissue and determine their metric dimensions intraoperatively. The designed multispectral filter-wheel 3D-endoscope prototype can switch between narrow-band spectral and broad-band white illumination, which is technically evaluated in terms of optical system properties. Further, it is tested and evaluated on three patients. The wavelengths 400 nm and 420 nm are identified as most suitable for the differentiation task. The stereoscopic image acquisition allows accurate 3D surface reconstruction of the enhanced image information. The first results are promising, as the cholesteatoma can be easily highlighted, correctly identified, and visualized as a true-to-scale 3D model showing the patient-specific anatomy.Peer Reviewe

Duration of deafness impacts auditory performance after cochlear implantation: A meta‐analysis

Objective: Hearing loss is a highly disabling condition. Cochlear implantation is an established remedy if conventional hearing aids have failed to alleviate the level of disability. Unfortunately, cochlear implant (CI) performance varies dramatically. This study aims to examine the effects of duration of deafness (DoD) prior to cochlear implantation and the postoperative duration of implant experience with resulting hearing performance in postlingually deaf patients. Methods: A systematic literature review and two meta-analyses were conducted using the search terms cochlear implant AND duration deafness. Included studies evaluate the correlation between the DoD and auditory performance after cochlear implantation using monosyllabic and sentence tests. Correlation coefficients were determined using Pearson's correlation and Spearman rho. Results: A total of 36 studies were identified and included data on cochlear implantations following postlingual deafness and postoperative speech testing of hearing outcomes for 1802 patients. The mean age ranged from 44 to 68 years with a DoD of 0.1 to 77 years. Cochlear implant use varied from 3 months to 14 years of age. Speech perception, which was assessed by sentence and monosyllabic word perception, was negatively correlated with DoD. Subgroup analyses revealed worse outcomes for longer DoD and shorter postoperative follow-up. Conclusion: DoD is one of the most important factors to predict speech perception after cochlear implantation in postlingually deaf patients. The meta-analyses revealed a negative correlation between length of auditory deprivation and postoperative sentence and monosyllabic speech perception. Longer DoD seems to lead to worse CI performance, whereas more experience with CI mitigates the effect

Olfactory and Gustatory Dysfunction in Patients With Autoimmune Encephalitis

Objective: To test the hypothesis that olfactory (OF) and gustatory function (GF) is disturbed in patients with autoimmune encephalitides (AE). Methods: The orthonasal OF was tested in 32 patients with AE and 32 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HC) with the standardized Threshold Discrimination Identification (TDI) score. This validated olfactory testing method yields individual scores for olfactory threshold (T), odor discrimination (D), and identification (I), along with a composite TDI score. The GF was determined by the Taste Strip Test (TST). Results: Overall, 24/32 (75%) of patients with AE, but none of 32 HC (p < 0.001) had olfactory dysfunction in TDI testing. The results of the threshold, discrimination and identification subtests were significantly reduced in patients with AE compared to HC (all p < 0.001). Assessed by TST, 5/19 (26.3%) of patients with AE, but none of 19 HC presented a significant limitation in GF (p < 0.001). The TDI score was correlated with the subjective estimation of the olfactory capacity on a visual analog scale (VAS; r(s) = 0.475, p = 0.008). Neither age, sex, modified Rankin Scale nor disease duration were associated with the composite TDI score. Conclusions: This is the first study investigating OF and GF in AE patients. According to unblinded assessment, patients with AE have a reduced olfactory and gustatory capacity compared to HC, suggesting that olfactory and gustatory dysfunction are hitherto unrecognized symptoms in AE. Further studies with larger number of AE patients would be of interest to verify our results

Olfactory and Gustatory Dysfunction in Patients With Autoimmune Encephalitis

Objective: To test the hypothesis that olfactory (OF) and gustatory function (GF) is disturbed in patients with autoimmune encephalitides (AE).Methods: The orthonasal OF was tested in 32 patients with AE and 32 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HC) with the standardized Threshold Discrimination Identification (TDI) score. This validated olfactory testing method yields individual scores for olfactory threshold (T), odor discrimination (D), and identification (I), along with a composite TDI score. The GF was determined by the Taste Strip Test (TST).Results: Overall, 24/32 (75%) of patients with AE, but none of 32 HC (p &lt; 0.001) had olfactory dysfunction in TDI testing. The results of the threshold, discrimination and identification subtests were significantly reduced in patients with AE compared to HC (all p &lt; 0.001). Assessed by TST, 5/19 (26.3%) of patients with AE, but none of 19 HC presented a significant limitation in GF (p &lt; 0.001). The TDI score was correlated with the subjective estimation of the olfactory capacity on a visual analog scale (VAS; rs = 0.475, p = 0.008). Neither age, sex, modified Rankin Scale nor disease duration were associated with the composite TDI score.Conclusions: This is the first study investigating OF and GF in AE patients. According to unblinded assessment, patients with AE have a reduced olfactory and gustatory capacity compared to HC, suggesting that olfactory and gustatory dysfunction are hitherto unrecognized symptoms in AE. Further studies with larger number of AE patients would be of interest to verify our results

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

Effects of odors on posture

Evidence suggests that postural stability may benefit from olfactory exposure, but whether this effect is different for hyposmic and healthy subjects remains unknown and little attention has been paid to the hedonic valence of odors in this context. Forty-five participants aged between 23 and 64 years were invited to this study, of whom 32 had normal olfactory function 13 exhibited olfactory deficits. Movement measurements were performed with the “Unterberger stepping test.” Participants walked in place with stretched arms for 8 periods of 30 s each, separated by intervals of approximately 15 s. During each of these 30-s blocks one of the three odor conditions was presented to them: (a) pleasant odor, (b) unpleasant odor, and (c) odorless control. Both participants with normosmia and impaired olfaction moved to the left and right sides more when exposed to the unpleasant odor as compared to pleasant odor exposure or no odor. When smelling pleasant odors, participants presented shorter maximal anterior/posterior sway than during no odor exposure, but it was similar when smelling unpleasant odor. The study demonstrated strong effects of odors on postural stability with pleasant odors limiting and unpleasant enhancing postural sways. Practical Applications Odors affect postural stability. Although we fail to demonstrate that postural stability measurements can be applied as a supporting method in smell dysfunction diagnosis, the current study opens prospects for further explorations of the relationship between olfactory and vestibular systems. These efforts may eventually lead to practical solutions supporting postural balance in patients suffering from conditions adversely affecting the vestibular system

Endoscopic measurement of nasal septum perforations

Hintergrund Die vielfältigen unangenehmen Symptome von Nasenseptumdefekten (NSD) führen zu einer deutlichen Einschränkung der Lebensqualität. NSD können mittels patientenspezifischer Implantate oder durch eine Op. verschlossen werden. Implantate werden dabei durch Silikonabformungen unter Vollnarkose, ggf. in lokaler Betäubung, oder anhand von 3D-Modellen aus computertomographischen (CT-)Daten erstellt. Nachteile für die Patientensicherheit sind ein erhöhtes Morbiditätsrisiko oder die Strahlenbelastung. Methodik Für die Hals‑, Nasen- und Ohren-(HNO)-Chirurgie wird ein schonender Ansatz zur Behandlung von NSD mit einer neuen bildbasierten, kontakt- und strahlungsfreien Messmethode unter Nutzung eines Stereoendoskops vorgestellt. Das Verfahren beruht ausschließlich auf Bilddaten und nutzt echtzeitfähige Bildverarbeitungsalgorithmen zur Berechnung von 3D-Informationen. Es ist beliebig oft wiederholbar und wurde bereits erfolgreich in der robotergestützten Chirurgie und in der OP-Mikroskopie eingesetzt. Daher wurde diese Methode für die Nasenchirurgie erweitert, für die es zusätzliche anatomische und stereoskopische Herausforderungen gibt. Ergebnisse Nach Auswertung von 3 relevanten Messgrößen (NSD-Ausdehnung: axial, koronal und Umfang) von 6 Patienten und Vergleich der Ergebnisse von 2 Stereoendoskopen mit vorhandenen CT-Daten zeigte sich: Die bildbasierten Messergebnisse können vergleichbare Genauigkeiten wie CT-Daten erzielen. Bei einem Patienten wurden die Daten nur teilweise ausgewertet, da der NSD größer als das endoskopische Sichtfeld war. Schlussfolgerung Aufbauend auf den sehr guten Messwerten wird ein Therapieverfahren skizziert, welches die Herstellung von patientenspezifischen NSD-Implantaten auf Basis endoskopischer Daten ermöglicht.Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications (HHI) (1050)Peer Reviewe

A remote and immersive setup for pandemic-safe surgical education

Existing challenges in surgical education (See one, do one, teach one) as well as the Covid-19 pandemic make it necessary to develop new ways for surgical training. This is also crucial for the dissemination of new technological developments. As today's live transmissions of surgeries to remote locations always come with high information loss, e.g. stereoscopic depth perception, and limited communication channels. This work describes the implementation of a scalable remote solution for surgical training, called TeleSTAR (Telepresence for Surgical Assistance and Training using Augmented Reality), using immersive, interactive and augmented reality elements with a bi-lateral audio pipeline to foster direct communication. The system uses a full digital surgical microscope with a modular software-based AR interface, which consists of an interactive annotation mode to mark anatomical landmarks using an integrated touch panel as well as an intraoperative image-based stereo-spectral algorithm unit to measure anatomical details and highlight tissue characteristics.We broadcasted three cochlea implant surgeries in the context of otorhinolaryngology. The intervention scaled to five different remote locations in Germany and the Netherlands with lowlatency. In total, more than 150 persons could be reached and included an evaluation of a participant's questionnaire indicating that annotated AR-based 3D live transmissions add an extra level of surgical transparency and improve the learning outcome.Medical Instruments & Bio-Inspired Technolog