Evaluation of a Radiological Tool for Semiautomatic Scalar Translocation Detection After Cochlear Implantation

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the clinical applicability of a semiautomatic radiological tool for scalar translocation detection. Study Design Retrospective study. Setting Tertiary care academic center. Patients We included 104 patients implanted with 116 HiFocus Mid-Scala electrode arrays between January 2013 and September 2016. Intervention Cochlear implantation. Main Outcome Measures The tool's scalar position assessments were compared with manual ones by calculating intraclass coefficient (ICC) for individual contacts and sensitivity and specificity for translocation detection of the whole array. In addition, ICC was calculated for diameters A and B, ratio A/B, and angular insertion depth (AID). Results Nine-one percent of cases could be processed, which took 5 to 10 minutes per case. Comparison of manual and semiautomatic scalar position showed for individual contacts an ICC of 0.89 and for the whole array a sensitivity of 97% and a specificity of 96%. ICCs for A, B, and A/B were 0.82, 0.74, and 0.39 respectively. For AID, ICC of each of the 16 contacts was 0.95 or higher. Conclusions The semiautomatic radiological tool could analyze most cases and showed good to excellent agreement with manual assessments for translocation detection, diameter A, diameter B, and AID. The variability between semiautomatic and manual measurements is comparable to interobserver variability, indicating that clinical implementation of the tool is feasible.