Development of a new endoscope holder for head and neck surgery--from the technical design concept to implementation

Endoscope holders are utilized by a variety of surgeons but are not commonplace in head and neck surgery. The SOLOASSIST active camera holder, which is currently used for abdominal surgery, will soon be adapted for head and neck surgery in collaboration with AKTORmed GmbH SOLO SURGERY (Barbing, Germany). In our pre-feasibility study, we analyzed the use of the existing endoscope holder on anatomical specimens during head and neck surgery. Based on these results, we are proceeding towards the development of a new endoscope holder for head and neck surgery. First, we drafted the technical concepts and discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the system. Then, we used anatomic specimens to measure the forces that occur intraoperatively during sinus surgery. Next, we designed a computer-aided design (CAD) model. Finally, we developed the first production prototype and used it for a frontal skull base procedure on an anatomical specimen. We present the three most promising concepts for a new holder. The resulting total force (F res = √(X (2) + Y (2) + Z (2))) was calculated to be 3.2 N during sinus surgery. We could observe all necessary intraoperative landmarks with the endoscope and its holder in a sinus and frontal skull base surgery. We developed a production prototype of a new endoscope holder and demonstrate satisfactory results in the use of anatomic specimens for skull base surgery.