Advancing Surgical Navigation for Safer Ear Surgery

At BHS Technologies, we are committed to pushing the boundaries of surgical precision and safety. Together with leading clinical and technological partners from Denmark and Austria, we are proud to contribute to COVION (Computer Vision for Otosurgical Navigation )—a groundbreaking research project aimed at redefining navigation in complex ear surgery. The project is supported by Innovation Fund Denmark, highlighting its national significance and clinical relevance.

Addressing a Critical Gap in Otologic Surgery

Each year, more than 500,000 advanced ear surgeries are performed worldwide to remove disease or restore hearing with cochlear implants. These delicate interventions are performed close to vital structures such as the meninges, facial nerve, and the inner ear's sensory organs. In the most complex cases, complication rates can be as high as 10%.

Despite this, there is still no widely adopted navigation system tailored for ear surgery.

It is a problem for patient safety that we do not have good navigation systems for ear surgery, and we as clinicians have set out to solve this together with strong medical technology partners

Steven Andersen, Department Physician and Clinical Research Associate Professor at the Department of Ear, Nose and Throat Surgery at Rigshospitalet, and project manager of the COVION project.

A Smart, Streamlined Navigation Workflow

The COVION solution is built around a low-dose cone-beam CT (CBCT) scan, used to generate a precise digital model of the patient’s ear. Based on this model, surgeons can plan the procedure in a virtual reality environment, marking critical anatomical structures and defining safe zones in advance.

 

During surgery, this surgical plan is enlarged and projected in real time into the surgeon's field of vision, directly onto the RoboticScope's Head-Mounted Display. Advanced algorithms continuously monitor instrument positions relative to key structures such as the facial nerve and alert the surgeon as needed.

Developed in Collaboration – Powered by Experience

The COVION consortium brings together world-class expertise:

  • Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, Northern Europe’s leading ENT department, with a strong legacy in hearing and balance research.

  • Copenhagen Imaging, a Danish MedTech startup, is pioneering the next generation of CBCT scanners with a focus on ENT applications.

  • MCI Entrepreneurial School in Innsbruck contributes interdisciplinary research and trains the next wave of MedTech engineers in virtual reality, AI, and digital health.

We at BHS Technologies are participating in the project with our RoboticScope, a robotic microscope that allows surgeons to intuitively control a high-resolution 3D camera via head movements, with the image projected in real time onto a Head-Mounted Display (HMD).

A Step Toward Safer, More Predictable Surgery

COVION is more than a research initiative—it’s a user-driven innovation effort designed by and for surgeons. We are proud to be working closely with Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen Imaging, and MCI to bring this vision to life.

 

Together, we are helping to shape the future of ear surgery—where precision is digital, navigation is intuitive, and safety is elevated to the next level.