Exploring the living cochlea using confocal microscopy

To obtain a more integrated view of the cellular behaviour of the cochlea it is essential to observe not only wider regions of the exposed turns but also to visualize structures below the reticular lamina. Using confocal microscopy and in vitro preparations of guinea pig and mouse inner ears, cellular structures within the intact organ of Corti can be visualized at high resolution. The approach thus offers a means to investigate detailed cellular events, e.g. structural reorganization following acoustic overstimulation. Confocal microscope images, although sharper than images acquired using regular light microscopy, are still subject to problems related to light scattering within the optical system and low signal-to-noise ratio. Significant image restoration can, however, be obtained by applying a combination of wavelet denoising techniques and deconvolution algorithms. Future work will focus both on more dynamical cellular events and on new in vivo models where the inner ear is visualized at a better functional state.