CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Laryngorhinootologie 2021; 100(S 02): S226-S227
DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-1728460
Abstracts
Otology / Neurotology / Audiology

Development of patient-specific drug-releasing round window implants for the treatment of inner ear diseases

F Matin
1   Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Medical University Hanover, Hannover
,
Z Gao
1   Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Medical University Hanover, Hannover
,
F Repp
3   OtoJig GmbH, Hannover
,
S John
3   OtoJig GmbH, Hannover
,
T Lenarz
1   Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Medical University Hanover, Hannover
,
V Scheper
1   Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Medical University Hanover, Hannover
› Author Affiliations
 

Motivation The modern therapy of inner ear disorders is increasingly being determined by local drug delivery. Access to the inner ear is usually found via the round window membrane (RWM). The RWM is located in the bony round window niche (RWN), which allows local deposition of drugs. For safe and controlled drug delivery optimal fitted drug-implants designed for the individual shape of the niche have to be developed. We report about our preparatory work on the patient specific anatomy and model of the RWN.

Material/Methods Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) images of 50 patients were analyzed. Based on the reconstructed 3D volumes, the individual structures of the RWN were determined by segmentation using a custom build plug-in for 3D slicerTM. This allowed defining a coordinate system relative to the cochlear so that quantities like depth and volume of the RWN, the length of the bony overhang and area of the RWM could be determined in comparable directions.

Results A large individual anatomical variability of the RWN with a mean volume of 4.54 mm3 (min 2.28mm3, max 6.64mm3) was detected. The area of the RWM ranged from 1.30mm2 to 4.39mm2 (mean: 2.93mm2). The bony overhang had a mean length of 0.56mm (min 0.04mm, max 1.24mm).

Conclusion Our data prove that there is a need for individually shaped RWN implants due to clinically relevant differences in the volume and shape of the niche.

Outlook Such an individualized, novel implant for minimally-invasive local delivery to the inner ear should be biodegradable and may be produced by 3D printing. Different additive manufacturing processes such as Fused Deposition Modeling, Digital Light Processing, Two-Photon-Polymerization or Micro Injection Molding may address this need.

Poster-PDF A-1099.pdf

This study is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research of Germany (BMBF), ‘RESPONSE – Partnership for Innovation in Implant Technology’ in the program ‘Zwanzig20 – Partnership for Innovation’.



Publication History

Article published online:
13 May 2021

© 2021. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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