How It Works

A step-by-step guide to training with LAByrinth

Getting Started

Select a case narrative from the home page and follow the guided surgical progression. Each case represents a patient with a clinical story — you'll drill through escalating decision points, making the same decisions you would face in the operating room.

LAByrinth works with both cadaveric temporal bones and 3D printed models, in any lab setting. If you're interested in 3D printed bones, see the Resources page for vendors.

Instructor Feedback

At each surgical checkpoint, upload 3–5 photos of your dissection — taken with a cell phone camera, microscope camera, USB camera, or other imaging modality. Add them one at a time as you go; each photo uploads as soon as you add it, and you can delete one until your instructor starts reviewing it. A faculty instructor reviews each photo and gives a verdict: Pass, Pass with Warning, or Needs Work.

All the photos you add to a step count as one attempt. Use Start a new attempt only when you drill that step again on a new bone.

Taking Good Photos

Different views help your instructor see the whole dissection.

Do

  • ✓Rotate the bone or change the lighting between shots
  • ✓Take at least one photo mid-step, not only at the end
  • ✓Use your phone's flash
  • ✓Upload under the step you're actually on

Don't

  • ✕Take several shots from the same angle (zooming in on the same view doesn't count as a new photo)
  • ✕Let glare or bone dust cover key structures

Looking Ahead: HNLE

We are developing HNLE, an AI assistant that will learn from expert reference dissections and instructor reviews. It is not yet used to grade submissions.

Questions About Your Feedback

If something in your feedback is unclear, reach out to your instructor, or share it through Offer a Mastoid Tip.

Training Analytics

The Antrum gives trainees a comprehensive view of their progress: pass rates by difficulty, error type breakdowns, and checkpoint coverage. The Round Window lets you revisit every prior dissection and its feedback.

The Antrum provides additional administrative tools for reviewing trainee performance across the program. The administrative team exercises ongoing review and oversight of all analytics and assessment quality to ensure the system remains accurate and fair.