The project is divided in eight Work Packages (WP). Work Package 1 is the definition WP. In WP2 and WP3 a set of tools and techniques will be developed to be used in WP4 and WP5. The design of a new high energy micro CT system will be carried in WP5.

Along with the technical WP, WP7 and WP8 will run throughout the whole project duration to coordinate and diseminate the efforts made in the project.

Workpackages

Work Package 1 - Clinical requirements and technical system specifications

Duration: month 1 to 3
WP Leader: UBERN
Other Participants: ALMA, MEDEL, DTU, SCANCO

Objectives

  • Establish formal models to characterise clinical & surgical procedures, imaging needs and implant design optimisation aims.
  • Translation of these clinical requirements into detailed technical specifications for the system components to be developed.

Deliverables

  • Report of HEAR-EU clinical requirements and technical system specifications. Status: submitted

Work Package 2 - High resolution imaging & image processing tools

Duration: month 4 to 18
WP Leader: SCANCO
Other Participants: ALMA, UBERN, DTU

Objectives

  • High resolution imaging of cadaver specimens using micro-CT technology.
  • Design and implementation of image analysis software to identify and delineate structures of interest (segmentation) and to align pairs of images from different acquisition times or modalities for data fusion (registration).

Deliverables

  • Report on image segmentation and registration algorithms; description of assoiated demonstrator. Status: August, 2013
  • Report on high-resolution imaging data acquisition and processing. Status: February, 2014

Work Package 3 - Statistical models of inner ear shape and function

Duration: Month 7 to 24
WP Leader: DTU
Other Participants: ALMA, UBERN, MEDEL

Objectives

  • Develop a statistical shape model of the cochlea and surrounding structures. Incorporate functional information, such as cochlear frequency maps, into the statistical model.
  • Build predictive methods to estimate the precise shape of a patient's inner ear from standard low resolution CT images.
  • Evaluate the predictive ability of the statistical shape model using clinical CT scans, with special emphasis on the critical structures and accuracy of the frequency map.

Deliverables

  • Methodology for statistical modelling of the inner ear shape and function; demonstrator description. Status: August, 2014

Work Package 4 - Computer-assisted surgical planning system

Duration: Month 4 to 36
WP Leader: ALMA
Other Participants: UBERN, MEDEL, DTU, SCANCO

Objectives

  • Develop a software platform for pre- and intra-operative planning, based on patient-specific models and providing decision support concerning the operability of patients.

Deliverables

  • Report of the HEAR-EU computer-assisted cochlear implantation surgical planning system. Status: December, 2014
  • Evaluation of the HEAR-EU computer-assisted surgical planning system: final report. Status: August, 2015

Work Package 5 - High-energy microCT system

Duration: Month 4 to 36
WP Leader: SCANCO
Other Participants: UBERN, DTU

Objectives

  • Development of a novel high-resolution microCT imaging system, allowing to capture accurate images of samples in the presence of metallic devices.
  • Design and implement a novel software and harware infrastructure for efficient reconstruction and pre-processing of very large image datasets.
  • Evaluation and optimisationof the high-energy microCT system.

Deliverables

  • Report on hardware and software developments for high-energy microCT imaging. Status: August, 2014
  • High-resolution high-energy microCT system: final report. Status: August, 2015

Work Package 6 - Implant design optimisation

Duration: Month 4 to 36
WP Leader: MEDEL
Other Participants: ALMA, UBERN, DTU, SCANCO

Objectives

  • Improve the design of current CI electrode arrays and associated insertion tools.

Deliverables

  • Report on the specification of a parametric model for cochlear implant design. Status: August, 2013
  • Report on population-based implant design optimisation framework. Status: October, 2014
  • Report on evaluation of new implant design. Status: August, 2015

Work Package 7 - Coordination and management

Duration: Month 1 to 36 Work
WP Leader: ALMA
Other Participants:

Objectives

  • Coordinate and organize the development of the project .

Deliverables

  • Project handbook. Status: submitted
  • Mid-term management report. Status: February, 2014
  • Final management report. Status: August, 2015

Work Package 8 - Dissemination and exploitation

Duration: Month 1 to 36
WP Leader: ALMA
Other Participants: UBERN, MEDEL, DTU, SCANCO

Objectives

  • Disseminate the project results to the targeted audiences through taylor-made activities.

Deliverables

  • Communication Plan. Status: submitted
  • Project website. Status: submitted
  • Interim report on dissemination activities. Status: February, 2014
  • Intermediate exploitation plan. Status: February, 2014
  • Final report on dissemination activities. Status: August, 2015
  • Final exploitation plan. Status: August, 2015

HEAR-EU is a collaborative project supported by the European Union under the Health Cooperation Work Programme of the 7th Framework Programme

FP7(c) 2013 - HEAR-EUEuropeanCommission