Optoacoustic cochlear stimulator (OCS)

Ref-Nr: 13969

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for restoring auditory hearing loss through optoacoustic stimulation of the cochlea.

Fig. 1: Optoacoustic cochlear stimulator

background

In the industrialized countries, 10 to 20% of the population suffer from deafness requiring treatment, the vast majority of whom have inner ear hearing loss.

The cause is damage to the outer hair, and in case of higher-grade hearing loss also the inner hair cells.

Innovation / Solution

The present invention describes a method for the functional replacement of external hair cells by spatially and thus frequency-selective laser-assisted excitation of the inner ear (cochlea), based on the optoacoustic effect. The opto-acoustic cochlear stimulator (see Fig. 1) consists of a laser system (1) and a fiber bundle (2). In the speech processor received sound waves are converted into electrical signals, which are forwarded as electrical pulse pattern to a coil and sent from there to the laser implant. This in turn produces according to the received signals laser pulses, which are forwarded by the different lengths of light guide (2) in the cochlea (C). Due to the different lengths of fibers of the optical cochlear implant, the photons will selectively reach frequency ranges of the cochlea (3, 5) and produce the location-selective excitation of the desired frequency ranges of the cochlea.

Benefits

Functional replacement in case of damage to the outer, in case of higher degree of hearing loss also the inner hair cells

fields of application

Hörprothetik

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