Guiding surgical robot HEARO

instrument holdingminimally invasive surgeryENT surgery

HEARO is the world’s first robotic surgical system for high precision, minimally invasive cochlear implantation A Minimally Invasive and Highly Precise Access to the Inner Ear Cochlear implantation is one of the most complex microsurgical procedures. The HEARO robotic system enables the surgeon to perform a minimally invasive and high-precision 1.8 mm wide access to the middle ear cavity. The tunnel runs between the facial nerve (facial muscle control) and Chorda tympani (taste nerve) with an average distance of 0.4 mm from the facial nerve. This requires a robot-supported drilling accuracy, which in tenth of a millimeter range. The HEARO procedure By creating a tiny channel from the surface of the skull to the round window of the cochlea for insertion of the implant, it reduces trauma for the patient and enables to achieve consistent surgical results. Safety First To minimize the risk of structural or heat damage to the facial nerve, chorda tympani and other critical anatomical structures, HEARO uses several integrated safety features. The active safety measures include continuous neuromonitoring, interoperative imaging-based verification of safety distances with OTOPLAN and real-time monitoring of the torque during drilling. Additional passive safety elements include micro-precision imaging and specialized robot-assisted drilling technology, which have been developed to minimize any heat generation. When approaching and when passing through the facial recess HEARO offers facial nerve monitoring for active mapping of safety distances to the facial nerve, completely independent of the image guidance.