Development of a Micro-coil Based Cochlear Implant

基于微线圈的人工耳蜗的开发

• 批准号: 10658004
• 负责人: JULIE G Arenberg
• 金额: $ 55.38万
• 依托单位: MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-04-15 至 2028-03-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10658004
• 关键词: Acoustics; Agreement; Anatomy; Animal Model; Animals; Auditory; Auditory Brainstem Responses; Auditory Physiology; Axon; Biological; Biophysics; Brain; Cavia; Chronic; Clinical; Cochlea; Cochlear Implants; Collaborations; Complex; Computer Models; Development; Devices; Ear; Effectiveness; Electric Stimulation; Electrodes; Electrophysiology (science); Environment; Euthanasia; Evaluation; Eye; Foundations; Frequencies; General Hospitals; Goals; Hearing; Human; Implant; Inferior Colliculus; Investigation; Kinetics; Knowledge; Location; Magnetism; Maxwell' s equations; Measures; Mediating; Modeling; Morphology; Mus; Music; Nature; Neurons; Noise; Outcome; Pattern; Performance; Perilymph; Peripheral; Permeability; Phase; Physics; Physiological; Property; Pulse Rates; Rehabilitation therapy; Scala Tympani; Signal Transduction; Site; Specificity; Speech; Speech Discrimination; Speech Perception; Stimulus; Technology; Testing; Time; Tissues; Work; cohort; deaf; design; experience; guinea pig model; implantation; improved; magnetic field; member; multidisciplinary; neuronal cell body; neurotransmission; next generation; response; simulation; spiral ganglion; transmission process

We have been evaluating magnetic stimulation from tiny, implantable coils (referred to as microcoils) for use in a next-generation cochlear implant (CI). Existing CIs enable speech discrimination, but their effectiveness decreases when background noise levels are high, and most users cannot appreciate music. While a number of factors are thought to contribute to these limitations, it is generally agreed that complex auditory signals, such as those arising from speech in the presence of background noise, or music, require more independent spectral channels than are created by existing, electrode-based CIs. Increasing the number of channels has proven challenging however, as the highly conductive solution surrounding implants (perilymph) expands the spread of activation from each electrode so that fields from neighboring electrodes overlap and channels are no longer independent. The spread of fields is worsened because the targets of stimulation (spiral ganglion neurons) are within one of the bony cavities of the cochlea and thus higher stimulus levels are required for activation which lead to increased current spread. Microcoils may be an attractive alternative to electrodes because the physics governing the spread of induced fields (Maxwell’s equations) suggests narrower confinement of activation. Further, the high permeability of biological tissues to magnetic fields allows stimulation to pass readily through the bony wall, without the need for increased stimulation levels (and the resulting spread of activation). Consistent with this, stimulation from micro-coils implanted in the cochleae of both mice (Lee et al., 2022) and guinea pig (present proposal) results in narrow channels of activation in the inferior colliculus, i.e., better approximating the normal physiological signal, and smaller than those from electrodes. The ability to create narrow spectral channels suggests a larger number of independent channels are possible with microcoils and thus the potential exists for improved rehabilitation of hearing. Our goal here is to further evaluate the potential of microcoils for use in CIs. The Aims focus on (1) electrophysiological evaluation of implanted microcoils, (2) evaluation of the interactions between neighboring channels on the multi-coil array, (3) chronic testing of coil-based implants, and (4) development of a computer model to help understand the mechanism(s) of activation. All physiological testing will take place in guinea pigs, a well- established animal model for evaluation of CI performance; our team has previous experience with this animal and new preliminary results validate the overall viability of our device and the approach. Our multi-disciplinary team has strong expertise in microcoil design and development, magnetic stimulation, computer modeling, cochlear implants and auditory physiology. Almost all of the team is located at Mass. General Hospital or next door at Mass. Eye and Ear; the results presented here are the result of a 2+ year collaboration between team members.

我们一直在评估来自微小的，可植入的线圈（称为微型机油）的磁刺激 下一代人的人工耳蜗（CI）。现有的独联体实现语音歧视，但其有效性 当背景噪声水平较高时，数字会减小，而大多数用户无法欣赏音乐。 人们认为一系列因素会导致这些局限性，人们普遍认为，复杂的听觉信号， 例如在背景噪音或音乐存在下言语引起的那些需要更多独立的 光谱通道比现有的基于电极的顺式创建的光谱通道。增加频道的数量 然而，事实证明的挑战，随着围绕Imprans（PerilyMph）的高电导解决方案扩展 从每个电极传播激活，以使来自相邻电极的场重叠和通道是 不再独立。由于刺激的目标（螺旋神经节），场的传播是委员 神经元位于耳蜗的骨腔之一，因此需要更高的刺激水平。 激活导致电流扩散增加。微型机油可能是电子的吸引人替代品 因为管理诱发场（麦克斯韦方程）的物理学表明较窄 激活的限制。此外，生物组织对磁场的高渗透性允许 刺激容易通过骨壁，而无需增加刺激水平（以及 导致激活的传播）。与此相一致，植入的微型机芯的刺激 小鼠（Lee等人，2022年）和豚鼠（目前的建议）都导致了狭窄的激活通道 下丘，即比正常生理信号更好，并且比来自 电极。创建狭窄光谱通道的能力表明了更多的独立通道 具有微型机油是可能的，因此存在用于改善听力康复的潜力。我们的目标是 进一步评估微型机器在顺式中使用的潜力。目的集中于（1）电生理学 评估植入的微型机油，（2）评估相邻通道之间相互作用的相互作用 多型线圈阵列，（3）基于线圈的即兴的慢性测试，以及（4）开发计算机模型以帮助 了解激活的机制。所有物理测试都将在豚鼠进行，这是一个很好的 既定动物模型用于评估CI性能；我们的团队以前有这种动物的经验 新的初步结果验证了我们设备和方法的整体生存能力。我们的多学科 团队在微型机油设计和开发，磁刺激，计算机建模， 人工耳蜗和听觉生理学。几乎所有的团队都位于马萨诸塞州或下一个团队 大量的眼睛和耳朵的门；此处介绍的结果是团队之间进行了2年以上合作的结果 成员。