Longitudinal performance of a vestibular prosthesis as assessed by electrically evoked compound action potential recording.
Electrical stimulation of the vestibular end organ with a vestibular prosthesis may provide an effective treatment for vestibular loss if the stimulation remains effective over a significant period of time after implantation of the device. To assess efficacy of electrical stimulation in an animal model, we implanted 3 rhesus monkeys with a vestibular prosthesis based on a cochlear implant. We then recorded vestibular electrically evoked compound action potentials (vECAPs) longitudinally in each of the implanted canals to see how the amplitude of the response changed over time. The results suggest that vECAPs, and therefore electrical activation of vestibular afferent fibers, can remain largely stable over time following implantation.
Department of Otolaryngology and Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. jop@u.washington.edu
James O
JO
Phillips
Sarah J
SJ
Shepherd
Amy L
AL
Nowack
Leo
L
Ling
Steven M
SM
Bierer
Chris R S
CR
Kaneko
Christopher M T
CM
Phillips
Kaibao
K
Nie
Jay T
JT
Rubinstein
D000200:Action Potentials; D000818:Animals; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D014722:Vestibule, Labyrinth / Q000601:surgery