title: Elastic properties of organ of Corti tissues from point-stiffness measurement and inverse analysis.
abstract: We describe a method to use point-stiffness (PtSt) measurements, i.e., indentation measurements, to obtain elastic moduli of different organ of Corti (OC) tissues. A detailed finite element (FE) model of the OC is used to account for geometric effects in the indentation measurements. We also present a sensitivity analysis, performed within a Bayesian estimation framework, that can be used to improve experimental design. The sensitivity analysis shows that the basilar membrane (BM) PtSt is most sensitive to changes in the BM properties and to changes in the pillar cells (PC) properties. This result suggests that the BM and the PC dominate the macromechanics of the OC. The most likely values of the Young׳s modulus predicted for the middle turn for the BM arcuate, BM pectinate, and the PC are found to be 935 KPa (range 640-1360 KPa), 300 KPa (range 190-460 KPa), and 3 GPa (range 1-9 GPa), respectively.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, 44 Cummington Street, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Hearing Research Center, Boston University, 44 Cummington Street, Boston, MA 02215, USA. Electronic address: fbzag@bu.edu.
authors.forename: B F
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Zagadou
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Boston University, 110 Cummington Street, Boston, MA 02215, USA. Electronic address: barbone@bu.edu.
authors.forename: P E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Barbone
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, 44 Cummington Street, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Hearing Research Center, Boston University, 44 Cummington Street, Boston, MA 02215, USA. Electronic address: dcm@bu.edu.
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Mountain
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D001489:Basilar Membrane; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D003051:Cochlea / Q000502:physiology*; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D020342:Finite Element Analysis; D005849:Gerbillinae; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008954:Models, Biological; D009925:Organ of Corti / Q000502:physiology*; D011312:Pressure; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
keywords: Bayesian perspective; Cochlea; Finite element; Gerbil; Sensitivity analysis