Electrical potential distribution within the inner ear: a preliminary study for vestibular prosthesis design.
Rotational cues in patients that suffer from bilateral vestibular loss can be delivered by vestibular prosthesis. Even though great efforts towards the development of a vestibular implant have been made, many parameters have still to be optimized. Numerical simulations of the neural activation during electrical stimulation can give important indications about the optimal electrode insertion site, stimulation waveform and electrode configuration, in terms of the highest selectivity. The first step of this type of numerical simulation requires the digital reconstruction of the human inner ear and the calculation of the spatial electrical potential distribution by means of finite-element methods.
Biorobotics Institute - Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna - Via Rinaldo Piaggio 34, 56025 Pontedera (Italy).
Prisca
P
Marianelli
Lorenzo
L
Bassi Luciani
Silvestro
S
Micera
D019929:Cochlear Implantation; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D007758:Ear, Inner / Q000502:physiology*; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D020342:Finite Element Analysis; D006801:Humans; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D014722:Vestibule, Labyrinth / Q000502:physiology