Customized Cochlear Implant Positioning in a Patient With a Low- Grade Glioma: Towards the Best MRI Artifact Management
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 7, 2025
Enhancing Electrode Location Assessment in Cochlear Implantation via Computed Tomography Image Fusion
Published on: January 17, 2025
Pietro Canzi, Sabino Luzzi, Elena Carlotto1
1Department of Otorhinolaryngology.
Objective:
To report the personalized decision-making pro- cess adopted for a cochlear implant (CI) candidate requiring magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain surveillance.
Study Design:
Clinical capsule report.
Setting:
Tertiary academic referral center.
Patient:
A 23-year-old man affected by posttraumatic bilat- eral profound hearing loss, already in radiological follow-up for a suspected small left cuneal low-grade glioma.
Interventions:
A multidisciplinary approach involving preoperative MRI simulations and 3D printed (3DP) models aiming to adapt the CI position to facilitate MRI brain lesion visibility.
Main Outcome Measures:
MRI visibility and surgical approach.
Results:
Preoperative MRI scans with the placement of an Ultra 3D CI were performed simulating different implant location to assess the brain lesion visibility in MRI. CI was positioned 9 cm away from the external auditory canal with an angle of 90 degrees. To assess the technical feasibility of the surgical procedure, a patient-specific 3DP head model was produced preoperatively. The postoperative course was uneventful, the patient showed a significant benefit from CI, and the brain lesion was highly visible at the MRI follow-up.
Conclusions:
The employment of strategies aimed at improving the MRI quality in CI recipients still represents a topic requiring attention. Thanks to multidisciplinary team collaboration, in our case, the CI position was successfully determined to allow unhindered MRI visibility of a specific intracranial structure.
