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82nd Annual Meeting of the German Society of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery

German Society of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery

01.06. - 05.06.2011, Freiburg

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Flat electrode array for an endosteal stimulation of the cochlear nerve (endosteal electrodes)

Meeting Abstract

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  • Raquel Manrique - Clinica Univ. Facultad Medicina, ORL, Pamplona, Spanien
  • S. Picciafuoco - Clinica Univ. Facultad Medicina, ORL, Pamplona, Spanien
  • J. Gracia - School of Engineering of the University of Navarre, Pamplona, Spanien
  • I. Ayerdi Olaizola - School of Engineering of the University of Navarre, Pamplona, Spanien
  • M. Manrique - Clinica Univ. Facultad Medicina, ORL, Pamplona, Spanien

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Hals-Nasen-Ohren-Heilkunde, Kopf- und Hals-Chirurgie. 82. Jahresversammlung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Hals-Nasen-Ohren-Heilkunde, Kopf- und Hals-Chirurgie. Freiburg i. Br., 01.-05.06.2011. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2011. Doc11hnod405

doi: 10.3205/11hnod405, urn:nbn:de:0183-11hnod4051

Published: April 19, 2011

© 2011 Manrique et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.en). You are free: to Share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work, provided the original author and source are credited.

Outline

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Introduction: In order to treat patients with bilateral profound sensorineural hearing losses, Cochlear Implants (CI) have been historically used with electrode arrays placed intraluminally in the cochlea. The development of new technologies enables the creation of flat electrode arrays (FEA), with a minimum thickness of 80 µm. These FEA could be used to stimulate the auditory nerve from an endosteal position in the lateral wall of the cochlea, placed longitudinally along the basal turn. The technique could be performed atraumatically, enabling a selective treatment of sensorineural hearing losses in high frequencies and treat tinnitus.

Materials and Methods: The EE has a cochlear insertion zone 0.5–0.7 mm wide. This EE version has an active area, 10 mm. long, which contains platinum film deposition on a 80 µm thick flexible substrate made of PDMS polymer. It is implanted in a first series of 10 human temporal bones (HT) and then in 6 ears of Macacas fascicularis. The morphological findings are analyzed via the histological processing of the HT and the hearing preservation via the ABR.

Results: The histological analysis of the human temporal bones implanted show that the spiral ligament has been completely conserved after an 8mm deep insertion of the FEA. Also, functional results in monkeys show that is possible to preserve a normal hearing function after an endosteal FEA implantation.