gms | German Medical Science

GMS Current Posters in Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Hals-Nasen-Ohren-Heilkunde, Kopf- und Hals-Chirurgie e.V. (DGHNOKHC)

ISSN 1865-1038

Experimental investigation of the performance of piezoelectric actuators in a cochlea test rig

Poster Otologie

  • corresponding author Wouter J. van Drunen - Medizinische Hochschule Hannover / HNO, Hannover
  • Sarra Kacha Lachheb - Leibniz Universität Hannover / Institute of Dynamics and Vibration Research, Hannover
  • Anatoly Glukhovskoy - Leibniz Universität Hannover / Institute for Micro Production Technology, Garbsen
  • Jens Twiefel - Leibniz Universität Hannover / Institute of Dynamics and Vibration Research, Hannover
  • Marc C. Wurz - Leibniz Universität Hannover / Institute for Micro Production Technology, Garbsen
  • Thomas Lenarz - Medizinische Hochschule Hannover / HNO, Hannover
  • Thomas S. Rau - Medizinische Hochschule Hannover / HNO, Hannover
  • Omid Majdani - Medizinische Hochschule Hannover / HNO, Hannover

GMS Curr Posters Otorhinolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2017;13:Doc093

doi: 10.3205/cpo001647, urn:nbn:de:0183-cpo0016470

Veröffentlicht: 26. April 2017

© 2017 van Drunen et al.
Dieser Artikel ist ein Open-Access-Artikel und steht unter den Lizenzbedingungen der Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (Namensnennung). Lizenz-Angaben siehe http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.


Gliederung

Abstract

Goal: Within the field of hearing prostheses several different devices are available which are applied depending on the kind and severity of hearing deficits experienced by the individual patient. For patients with residual hearing the combination of a hearing aid with a cochlea implant (EAS - electric acoustic stimulation) results in the best quality of hearing perception. In order to optimize EAS, ongoing research focusses on the integration of these stimuli in a single device.

Methods: Different inner ear actuator concepts were analyzed before yielding piezoelectric bimorphs as the most feasible one for basilar membrane (BM) stimulation from within the scala tympani. For the experimental validation of the numerical results presented previously, the actuator performance in the cochlea test rig was evaluated.

Results and outlook: The experimental analysis for different stimulation frequencies and different locations shows two local BM oscillation peaks, one at the actuator position and one according to the tonotopic cochlea map. Thus confirming our previously presented numerical findings that non-resonant stimulation induces two local BM oscillation maxima, allowing one to stimulate even at those positions where no actuator is present. These results are the border stone for further experimental analysis with multiple actuators as well as miniaturization of mechanical actuators for integration into CI electrodes.

Unterstützt durch: This work is supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) within the Cluster of Excellence Hearing4all

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