In this article, a new tool for the intraoperative measurement of distances within the middle ear by means of a micromanipulator is presented. The purpose of this work was to offer the surgeon a highly accurate tool for measuring the distances between two points in the 3D operational field. The tool can be useful in various operations; this article focuses, however, on measuring the distance be...

The patho-physiology of inner ear is an intriguing entity, which is yet to be understood in its full entirety. It is an interesting phenomenon to explore the way in which the labyrinth responds to various insults with a myriad of presentations manifesting clinically. Otologists have long wondered for a reasonable explanation as to why Stapedotomy patients may develop intense post-operative vert...

In the article “Laser versus conventional fenestration in stapedotomy for otosclerosis: a systematic review,” Wegner et al. have reported a systematic review assessing hearing outcome and complications following primary stapedotomy in otosclerosis patients. We thank the authors for their effort in producing this work concentrating on an important clinical issue. However, there are a few comment...

* Supported in part by Brite Euram project BE7470. Abstract The two-level fuzzy-lattice (2L-FL) learning scheme is introduced for application on an intelligent surgical (mechatronic) drill in the stapedotomy surgical procedure in the ear. The 2L-FL scheme learned from past cases to evaluate pointedly the thickness of a stapes bone using a force/torque pair of drilling profiles. Hence it is poss...

introduction carhart's notch (cn) is a major audiometric criterion for diagnosis of otosclerosis; it is an abnormal audiometric pattern due to fixation of stapes and relative reduction in perilymphatic motion. methods 130 patients (146 diseased ears) were evaluated in this study. audiometric tests were performed for each patient 2 weeks before and 6 month after surgery, and the average decline ...