Prosthetic stimulation of the auditory system with intraneural electrodes

SPEAKER: Professor Alexander Arts
Clinical Associate Professor of Otorhinolaryngology
Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery
University of Michigan Medical School

ABSTRACT:
Prosthetic electrical stimulation of the auditory system is presently accomplished either via scala tympani electrode arrays or cochlear nucleus surface electrode arrays. Many of Simmons' and others' early cochlear implant studies, however, utilized electrode arrays placed within the auditory nerve itself – either within the modiolus or within the trunk of the nerve. For many reasons, such intraneural electrode arrays were abandoned in favor of intrascalar arrays. There remain, however, several theoretical and practical reasons why intraneural arrays might be advantageous, and recent developments in electrode technology solve many of the problems posed by early attempts at intraneural stimulation. In this presentation, the history and current status of intraneural auditory stimulation will be discussed, and some preliminary results of this mode of stimulation in an animal model will be presented.

BIO:
Dr. Arts is Associate Professor of Otolaryngology and Neurosurgery at the University of Michigan School of Medicine. He received a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Rice University, and a M.S.E in bioengineering from the University of Washington. He received an M.D. from Baylor College of Medicine and completed an otolaryngology residency at the University of Washington. He then completed a fellowship in otology, neurotology, and cranial base surgery at the University of Virginia, where he stayed on as a faculty member for several years. His clinical interests are in cochlear implantation, surgery for cranial base tumors, stapes surgery, and implantable hearing devices. His principal research interest is in the area of rosthetic stimulation of the auditory system.