IN-VITRO INVESTIGATIONS FOR THE SPECIFICATION OF PRACTICAL AND TECHNICAL DEMANDS ON ENDOSCOPIC INFRARED DIAPHANOSCOPY

Endoscopic infrared diaphanoscopy is a method of improving orientation in the nasal cavity during endoscopy-controlled endonasal surgery. Th e transillumination is expected to facilitate the localisation of the natural passageways between the paranasal sinuses and the nasal cavity during endoscopic procedures. The present study specifies the necessa ry conditions on the basis of in vitro examinations using an animal mo del (sheep) and an anatomical preparation of half of the human head. T he questions as to what paranasal sinus is at all accessible to diapha noscopy, whether the method actually enables the connecting pathways b etween an individual sinus and the nasal cavity to be identified, and what technical demands need to be met, are considered and answered.