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The floating mass transducer at the round window: direct transmission or bone conduction?
Andreas Arnold1, Martin Kompis, Claudia Candreia
1University Department of ENT, Head and Neck Surgery, Inselspital, University of Bern, Switzerland. andreas.arnold@insel.ch
Hearing Research
|December 17, 2009
Summary
A new floating mass transducer (FMT) placed at the round window directly stimulates cochlear fluids. This round window FMT (rwFMT) approach offers a novel method for hearing implant coupling, distinct from bone conduction devices.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Otolaryngology
- Auditory Neuroscience
Background:
- Implantable hearing systems aim to restore hearing by stimulating the cochlea.
- The round window is a potential interface for cochlear implants.
- Floating mass transducer (FMT) technology offers a novel approach to auditory stimulation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate vibration transfer to cochlear fluids using a round window FMT (rwFMT).
- To investigate the role of bone conduction in rwFMT performance.
- To compare rwFMT performance with other auditory stimulation methods.
Main Methods:
- Posterior tympanotomy on human whole head specimens.
- Laser Doppler vibrometry to measure vibrations at the stapes and promontory.
- Comparison of rwFMT, promontory FMT (pFMT), and bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA) vibration transmission.
Main Results:
- Optimal vibration transmission to the stapes was achieved with a perpendicular rwFMT placement, underlaid with connective tissue.
- Direct fixation of the rwFMT to the round window resulted in significantly lower vibration transmission.
- Bone conduction from pFMT was substantially lower than that of BAHA.
Conclusions:
- The rwFMT functions primarily as a direct vibratory stimulator of the round window membrane.
- The rwFMT is not comparable to a bone-anchored hearing aid in terms of bone conduction.
- This study provides crucial data for the development of novel implantable hearing systems utilizing the round window.
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