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Updated: May 22, 2026

Extracting the Cochlea from a Human Temporal Bone: A Cadaveric Protocol
Published on: August 18, 2023
Von Békésy and cochlear mechanics
Elizabeth S Olson1, Hendrikus Duifhuis, Charles R Steele
1OTO/HNS and Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, NY, USA. eao2004@columbia.edu
Abstract:
Georg Békésy laid the foundation for cochlear mechanics, foremost by demonstrating the traveling wave that is the substrate for mammalian cochlear mechanical processing. He made mechanical measurements and physical models in order to understand that fundamental cochlear response. In this tribute to Békésy we make a bridge between modern traveling wave observations and those of Békésy, discuss the mechanical properties and measurements that he considered to be so important, and touch on the range of computational traveling wave models.
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