Patent ID: 8886331

Claim:
A method of percutaneous cochlear implantation (PCI), comprising the steps of: (a) implanting a plurality of anchor members in a skull of a patient surrounding an ear of the patient; (b) attaching a prepositioning frame to the plurality of anchor members, the prepositioning frame comprising (i) a prepositioning platform with a central through hole adapted for allowing physical access to the ear during a PCI, and (ii) a plurality of fiducial members protruding from a top surface of the prepositioning platform; (c) acquiring a computed-tomography (CT) image of an area of the patient's head including the ear and the plurality of fiducial members; (d) determining a centroid of each of the plurality of fiducial members and a trajectory for the PCI according to the CT image; (e) configuring a parallel robot by a computer processor according to the CT image, wherein the parallel robot comprises a top platform and a base platform connected via a plurality of linear actuators, the top platform adapted for receiving one or more surgical tools, the base platform having a plurality of receiving mechanisms, each receiving mechanism adapted for receiving a respective fiducial member, each of the top platform and the base platform defining a central through hole adapted for allowing the one or more surgical tools to pass therethrough during the PCI, and wherein the computer processor is programmed to set each of the plurality of linear actuators such that the top platform is aligned with the trajectory with respect to the centroids of the plurality of fiducial members to be received by the plurality of receiving mechanisms; (f) attaching the parallel robot to the prepositioning frame such that each of the plurality of fiducial members is received by a respective receiving mechanism in the base platform of the parallel robot; and (g) performing the PCI using the one or more surgical tools received by the top platform of the parallel robot, wherein the prepositioning frame is designed using prior clinical data and the parallel robot is configured according to the CT image such that when the parallel robot is attached to the prepositioning frame, a nominal position of the parallel robot is aligned with an optimal trajectory for the PCI.