Development of an auditory implant manipulator for minimally invasive surgical insertion of implantable hearing devices

Abstract Objective: To present the auditory implant manipulator, a navigation-controlled mechanical and electronic system which enables minimally invasive (‘keyhole') transmastoid access to the tympanic cavity. Materials and methods: The auditory implant manipulator is a miniaturised robotic system with five axes of movement and an integrated drill. It can be mounted on the operating table. We evaluated the surgical work field provided by the system, and the work sequence involved, using an anatomical whole head specimen. Results: The work field provided by the auditory implant manipulator is considerably greater than required for conventional mastoidectomy. The work sequence for a keyhole procedure included pre-operative planning, arrangement of equipment, the procedure itself and post-operative analysis. Conclusion: Although system improvements are necessary, our preliminary results indicate that the auditory implant manipulator has the potential to perform keyhole insertion of implantable hearing device

Plasma–liquid interactions: a review and roadmap

Plasma–liquid interactions represent a growing interdisciplinary area of research involving plasma science, fluid dynamics, heat and mass transfer, photolysis, multiphase chemistry and aerosol science. This review provides an assessment of the state-of-the-art of this multidisciplinary area and identifies the key research challenges. The developments in diagnostics, modeling and further extensions of cross section and reaction rate databases that are necessary to address these challenges are discussed. The review focusses on non-equilibrium plasmas

Gain measurements of Fabry-Perot InP/InGaAsP lasers using an ultrahigh-resolution spectrometer

Measurements of the optical gain in a semiconductor laser using a 20 MHz resolution optical spectrum analyzer are presented for what is believed to be the first time. The high resolution allows for accurate gain measurements close to the lasing threshold. This is demonstrated by gain measurements on a bulk InGaAsP 1.5 µm Fabry-Perot laser. Combined with direct measurement of transparency carrier density values, parameters were determined for characterizing the gain at a range of wavelengths and temperatures. The necessity of the use of a logarithmic gain model is shown

Development of an auditory implant manipulator for minimally invasive surgical insertion of implantable hearing devices

Objective:To present the auditory implant manipulator, a navigation-controlled mechanical and electronic system which enables minimally invasive ('keyhole') transmastoid access to the tympanic cavity.Materials and methods:The auditory implant manipulator is a miniaturised robotic system with five axes of movement and an integrated drill. It can be mounted on the operating table. We evaluated the surgical work field provided by the system, and the work sequence involved, using an anatomical whole head specimen.Results:The work field provided by the auditory implant manipulator is considerably greater than required for conventional mastoidectomy. The work sequence for a keyhole procedure included pre-operative planning, arrangement of equipment, the procedure itself and post-operative analysis.Conclusion:Although system improvements are necessary, our preliminary results indicate that the auditory implant manipulator has the potential to perform keyhole insertion of implantable hearing devices

Gain measurements of Fabry-Perot InP/InGaAsP lasers using an ultra high resolution spectrometer

In this paper we present the use of an ultra-high resolution (20 MHz) spectrometer to measure the gain in a Fabry-Pérot InGaAsP laser from subthreshold ASE spectra. The method is derived from the Hakki-Paoli method. A non-linear least-squares fitting of the observed modes is used to extract the gain from the line shape. Each mode of the measured spectrum is fully resolved and fitted separately. Thus the spectral gain curve is not restricted to a parabolic function. The optical gain spectrum and the differential gain are determined. These parameters will be used in our laser simulations

Analyzing the impact of indirect tax reforms on rank-dependent social welfare functions: a positional dominance approach

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