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Updated: Jul 6, 2026

Investigating the Three-dimensional Flow Separation Induced by a Model Vocal Fold Polyp
Published on: February 3, 2014
The model of cupular dynamics in the case of the difference of the cupula and endolymph densities
A V Kondrachuk1, S P Sirenko, R Boyle
1Institute of Physics, Natl. Acad. Sci., Kiev, Ukraine. kondr@kondr.kiev.ua
Abstract:
The function of semicircular canals (SC) is based on the precise equality of densities of the cupula and endolymph. Otherwise the information provided by SC would depend on the orientation of both the gravity vector relative to canal plane and the axis of rotation. It would also depend on the distance between the axis of rotation and the center of the SC. We believe that the equality of densities is approximate and expect that due to the high sensitivity of the SC, even the small differences of densities (approximately 10(-4) g/cm3) can influence the SC dynamics, and this influence depends on the conditions of canal stimulation. The work aims to examine this hypothesis and analyze the parameters of the SC and mechanical stimulation under which the effect of the difference of densities on the SC functioning could be observed.
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