title: Influence of stimulation position on the sensitivity for bone conduction hearing aids without skin penetration.
abstract: This study explores the influence of stimulation position on bone conduction (BC) hearing sensitivity with a BC transducer attached using a headband.
  
  
  
  (1) The cochlear promontory motion was measured in cadaver heads using laser Doppler vibrometry while seven different positions around the pinna were stimulated using a bone anchored hearing aid transducer attached using a headband. (2) The BC hearing thresholds were measured in human subjects, with the bone vibrator Radioear B71 attached to the same seven stimulation positions.
  
  
  
  Three cadaver heads and twenty participants.
  
  
  
  Stimulation on a position superior-anterior to the pinna generated the largest promontory motion and the lowest BC thresholds. Stimulations on the positions superior to the pinna, the mastoid, and posterior-inferior to the pinna showed similar magnitudes of promontory motion and similar levels of BC thresholds.
  
  
  
  Stimulations on the regions superior to the pinna, the mastoid, and posterior-inferior to the pinna provide stable BC transmission, and are insensitive to small changes of the stimulation position. Therefore it is reliable to use the mastoid to determine BC thresholds in clinical audiometry. However, stimulation on a position superior-anterior to the pinna provides more efficient BC transmission than stimulation on the mastoid.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery , University Hospital Zurich , Zurich , Switzerland and.
authors.forename: Ivo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Dobrev
authors.affiliation: b Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine , Linköping University , Linköping , Sweden.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stenfelt
authors.affiliation: a Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery , University Hospital Zurich , Zurich , Switzerland and.
authors.forename: Christof
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Röösli
authors.affiliation: a Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery , University Hospital Zurich , Zurich , Switzerland and.
authors.forename: Lucy
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bolt
authors.affiliation: a Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery , University Hospital Zurich , Zurich , Switzerland and.
authors.forename: Flurin
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pfiffner
authors.affiliation: a Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery , University Hospital Zurich , Zurich , Switzerland and.
authors.forename: Rahel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gerig
authors.affiliation: a Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery , University Hospital Zurich , Zurich , Switzerland and.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Huber
authors.affiliation: a Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery , University Hospital Zurich , Zurich , Switzerland and.
authors.forename: Jae Hoon
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Sim
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D000328:Adult; D001299:Audiometry; D001309:Auditory Threshold / Q000502:physiology; D001844:Bone Conduction / Q000502:physiology*; D002102:Cadaver; D003051:Cochlea / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology; D054644:Ear Auricle / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology; D054459:Elasticity Imaging Techniques; D005260:Female; D006310:Hearing Aids; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008416:Mastoid / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: BC hearing aid (BCHA); BC hearing threshold; Bone conduction (BC); cochlear promontory; mastoid; skin penetration; skull bone