A MEMS outer hair cell (OHC) implant to improve sensorineural response of a damaged cochlea

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

7-2-2018

Publication Title

Midwest Symposium on Circuits and Systems

Volume

2018-August

First Page

41

Keywords

Cantilever beam, Cochlear Implant, Electrostatic actuation, FEA, MEMS, Organ of Corti, Outer Hair Cell (OHC)

Last Page

44

Abstract

This paper presents the design of a MEMS based Outer Hair Cell (OHC) for use as a prosthetic implant on the top of the basilar membrane in the Cochlea to improve the hearing conditions for persons with damaged OHC. The MEMS hair cell (OHC) is designed to have a set of 6 variable length microfabricated cantilever beams that can be excited to deform like normal healthy OHC using electrostatic actuation. A 3D Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of the developed OHC has been carried out using IntelliSuite. The FEA results are in 17% agreement with an analytical model published elsewhere. The design eliminates the use of electrode as used in conventional cochlear implants (CIs) and has the potential to improve the hearing condition for patients suffering from sensory neural hearing loss due to cochlear outer hair cell damage.

DOI

10.1109/MWSCAS.2018.8624072

ISSN

15483746

ISBN

9781538673928

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