Patient-customized electrode arrays based on patient-specific cochlear information, and designing/selecting methods and applications of same

1. A method for designing a patient-customized electrode array (EA) or selecting an existing EA that fits the patient best, comprising:

acquiring information of the patient-specific cochlear size and/or shape of the cochlea; and

designing a patient-customized electrode array (EA) or selecting an existing EA that fits the patient best based on the acquired information of the patient-specific cochlear size and/or shape of the cochlea,

wherein the acquiring step comprises:

segmenting shapes of structures of interest (SOIs) of a cochlea of the patient in a pre-operative computed tomography (CT) image of the cochlea using a shape model, wherein the EA is to be placed in the cochlea;

defining a three dimensional (3D) curve of interest within the shape model of the SOIs as a sequence of points, {P 1 }, wherein i=1, 2, 3, . . . N, N is an integer greater than zero;

automatically transforming the defined 3D curve to the pre-operative CT image so as to obtain a structure curve in the cochlea; and

determining a length and curvatures of the structure curve at the sequence of points {P i }.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the selecting/designing step comprises:

designing a patient-customized electrode array (EA) or selecting an existing EA that fits the patient best based on the determined length and curvatures of the structure curve in cochlea such that after the EA shape model, which estimates the resting state shape of the EA, is rigidly registered to the structure curve in the cochlea, the EA shape model has a registration error smaller than a preset value.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the SOIs are temporal bone anatomy.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the structure curve is a modiolar curve or a lateral wall curve in the cochlea.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the straight EA has a length determined such that when placed along the lateral wall curve, an angular insertion depth of the distal electrode reaches about 500°, while a proximal electrode falls safely within the cochlea being greater than 30°.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the EA comprises a plurality of electrodes, {E i }, wherein the i-th electrode E i is to be placed in a location corresponding to the i-th point P i of the structure curve in the cochlea, wherein i=1, 2, 3, . . . N, N is an integer greater than zero.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the shape model is a non-rigid statistical shape model created with μCT images of a plurality of cochlea specimens in which intra-cochlear structures are visible.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the defined 3D structure curve is automatically transformed to the pre-operative CT image using a thin plate spline registration.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the EA shape model is rigidly registered to the structure curve in the cochlea using an iterative closest point registration, thereby placing the resting state shape of the EA within the SOIs in the cochlea such that the EA matches the structure curve in the cochlea.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining a patient-customized insertion plan for electrode insertion using the registered EA shape model, wherein the patient-customized insertion plan comprises at least a recommended depth.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein when inserted, the base depth of electrode insertion of the EA matches the recommended depth.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the segmenting step comprises automatically fitting the shape model to an external boundary of the cochlea that is visible in the pre-operative CT, thereby allowing highly accurate estimation of positions and shapes of intra-cochlear structures of the cochlea that are not visible in the pre-operative CT.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the curvature of the EA at the i-th electrode E i is characterized with a curvature R i that matches the curvature of the i-th point Pi of the structure curve in the cochlea.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the i-th electrode E i is a flat electrode, or a curved electrode that is characterized with a curvature that matches the curvature of the i-th point P i of the structure curve in the cochlea.