Measuring Cochlear Duct Length – a historical analysis of methods and results

BACKGROUND: Cochlear Duct Length (CDL) has been an important measure for the development and advancement of cochlear implants. Emerging literature has shown CDL can be used in preoperative settings to select the proper sized electrode and develop customized frequency maps. In order to improve post-operative outcomes, and develop new electrode technologies, methods of measuring CDL must be validated to allow usage in the clinic. PURPOSE: The purpose of this review is to assess the various techniques used to calculate CDL and provide the reader with enough information to make an informed decision on how to conduct future studies measuring the CDL. RESULTS: The methods to measure CDL, the modality used to capture images, and the location of the measurement have all changed as technology evolved. With recent popularity and advancement in computed tomography (CT) imaging in place of histologic sections, measurements of CDL have been focused at the lateral wall (LW) instead of the organ of Corti (OC), due to the inability of CT to view intracochlear structures. After analyzing results from methods such as directly measuring CDL from histology, indirectly reconstructing the shape of the cochlea, and determining CDL based on spiral coefficients, it was determined the three dimensional (3D) reconstruction method is the most reliable method to measure CDL. 3D reconstruction provides excellent visualization of the cochlea and avoids errors evident in other methods. Due to the number of varying methods with varying accuracies, certain guidelines must be followed in the future to allow direct comparison of CDL values between studies. CONCLUSION: After summarizing and analyzing the interesting history of CDL measurements, the use of standardized guidelines and the importance of CDL for future cochlear implant developments is emphasized for future studies.