Implications from cochlear implant insertion for cochlear mechanics |
| |
Authors: | Michal Kaufmann-Yehezkely Ronen Perez |
| |
Affiliation: | 1. Department of Otorhinolaryngology/Head &2. Neck Surgery, Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center, POB 12000, Jerusalem 91120, Israel https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0004-1024;3. Department of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Otology Unit &4. Cochlear Implant Center, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, POB 3235, Jerusalem 91031, Israel https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8682-6927 |
| |
Abstract: | It is usually thought that the displacements of the two inner ear windows induced by sound stimuli lead to pressure differences across the basilar membrane and to a passive mechanical traveling wave progressing along the membrane. However, opening a hole in the sealed inner ear wall in experimental animals is surprisingly not accompanied by auditory threshold elevations. It has also been shown that even in patients undergoing cochlear implantation, elevation of threshold to low-frequency acoustic stimulation is often not seen accompanying the making of a hole in the wall of the cochlea for insertion of the implant. Such threshold elevations would be expected to result from opening the cochlea, reducing cochlear impedance, altering hydrodynamics. These considerations can be taken as additional evidence that it may not be the passive basilar membrane traveling wave which elicits hearing at low sound intensities, but rather factors connected with cochlear fluid pressures and fluid mechanics. |
| |
Keywords: | Basilar membrane Traveling wave Mechanics Residual hearing Cochlear implant |
|
|