Noise Exposure On Human Cochlea During Cochleostomy Formation Using Conventional And A Hand Guided Robotic Drill

Objective: To investigate the disturbance induced in the cochlea during cochleostomy using conventional drill and a hand guided robotic drill.Study Design: The study is based on experimental measurements using the Laser Doppler Vibrometer during the drilling processes converted to Sound Pressure Levels (SPL) for comparison.Setting: The study is based on experimental results of three sets of cochleostomies on human cadaver heads.Main Outcome Measure(s): Robotic drilling, in comparison to the conventional drilling method, creates a consistently lower level of disturbance in cochlea across the hearing frequency range.Results: Robotic drilling, in comparison to the conventional drilling method, creates a consistently lower level of disturbance in cochlea across the hearing frequency range.Conclusions: It is reasonable to conclude that robotic drilling has a lower possibility of creating acoustic trauma in cochlea that endangers the residual hearing of patients.