Relevant temporal bone anatomy for robotic cochlear implantation: An updated terminology combined with anatomical and clinical terms

Background: Translational research refers to scientific findings that have been extensively studied in models and find their way to clinical studies. In a certain sense in translational anatomy a similar application of conventional anatomical knowledge finds its way to clinics in the surgical theatre. With the propagation of endoscopic middle ear surgery there has been a renewed interest in many early anatomical terms, even many years after their discovery, which may threaten the correct and classic eponyms. Moreover, the application of robotic ear surgery executing minimal invasive keyhole accesses requires translation of anatomical knowledge to the sub-millimetric level. Purpose: This review reports relevant anatomy of the temporal bone for robotic cochlear implantation reflecting also on recent revisions of terminology. Results: In 2019, the Terminologia Neuroanatomica (TNA 2017) was accepted at the 19th World Congress of the International Federation of Associations of Anatomists (IFAA) in London as its official terminology for the central and peripheral nervous system and the sense organs. This review follows the terminology of in the TNA, but also compares anatomical and clinical terms to bridge the gap between both approaches, and provides brief descriptions and illustrations of relevant structures for robotic cochlear implantation and elaborates on their significance. With the emergence and more widespread use of the endoscopic ear surgery and image guided ear surgery, visualization of certain anatomical structures has improved. Coinciding, there has been a renewed interest in many early anatomical terms, even many years after their discovery, which may threaten the correct and classic eponyms. Conclusions: Consequently, this review also presents an overview of eponyms associated with specific structures over the years. In Supplementary Tables, the changes in terminology are reported.