An ultrasound-based navigation system for minimally invasive neck surgery.

Future minimally invasive neck surgery requires a navigation system adapted to the actual intra-operative bedding of the patient. The detection of the bedding-caused tissue shift is essential for a safe orientation for the surgeon new endoscopic operation procedures in neck surgery. It is essential to visualize the relation between important anatomic landmarks and operation instruments at any time.

Rotatable flexible neck-model for the evaluation of minimally invasive operation procedures with the help of an ultrasound-based navigation system.

Future minimally invasive neck surgery requires a navigation system adapted to the actual intraoperative bedding of the patient. The detection of the bedding-caused tissue shift is essential for a safe orientation for the surgeons' new endoscopic operation procedures in neck surgery. It is essential to visualize the relation between important anatomic landmarks and operation instruments at any time.

High precision cochleostomy by use of a pulsed CO2 laser - an experimental approach.

A precise cochleostomy is a crucial step in cochlear implantation, particularly if residual hearing is to be preserved. A contactless ablation of the promontory bone by a pulsed CO(2) laser system seems to be a promising approach. The bone is removed by a scan head controlled laser beam in sequential scan cycles with a pulse rate of 50-100 mus.

Workflow modeling and analysis of computer guided prostate brachytherapy under MR imaging control.

We demonstrate that classical Business Process Reengineering (BPR) methods can be successfully applied to Computer Aided Surgery while increasing safety and efficiency of the overall procedure through an integrated Workflow Management System. Computer guided Prostate Brachytherapy, as a sophisticated treatment by an interdisciplinary team, is perfectly suited to apply our method. Detailed suggestions for improvement of the whole procedure could be derived by our modified BPR method.

Integration of intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) dose distribution into the postoperative CT-based external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) treatment planing.

In the treatment of malignant disease external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) is often combined with surgery. Intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) improves the local control by dose escalation. For reasons of recording, improvement and security of the intervention, it would be necessary to merge the IORT-dose distribution with the postoperative CT-based EBRT-planing.