gms | German Medical Science

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

Der Erstautor gibt keinen Interessenkonflikt an.