Stent-like Hearing Prosthesis for Inner Ear Adaptation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional hearing prostheses face challenges in establishing reliable electrical contact with the inner ear due to anatomical variations and limited electrode number, difficulty in stimulating low-frequency nerve cells, and rigid implantation, which complicates the implantation process.
Innovation Solution
A hearing prosthesis with a compressible and expandable stent-like support structure that adapts to the inner ear geometry, featuring multiple electrodes spaced along its length and circumference, allowing for precise electrical stimulation and improved contact with the inner ear wall, enabling deeper penetration and flexible implantation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional rigid electrode arrays are used, then manufacturing and implantation are simpler, but reliable electrical contact with the inner ear wall cannot be guaranteed due to anatomical variations
Solution Approach 1:
The electrode array employs a flexible, expandable structure that transitions from a compressed delivery state to an expanded deployed state within the cochlea. This dynamic transformation allows the array to adapt to the inner ear's geometry, ensuring reliable electrical contact with the scala tympani wall while maintaining manufacturability through standardized compression and expansion mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The electrode array's physical parameters (shape, volume, contact surface area) are changed through controlled expansion after implantation. The array is delivered in a compressed state with reduced cross-sectional dimensions, then expanded in situ to increase contact surface area and improve electrical coupling with the cochlear wall, directly addressing anatomical variations.
2Length of moving object
If the electrode array diameter is reduced to facilitate insertion, then insertion depth is limited and low-frequency nerve cell stimulation becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The electrode array is nested within a delivery catheter in a compressed state, allowing it to pass through the cochlear opening with minimal diameter. Once positioned at the desired depth, the array is deployed and expanded, increasing its effective diameter to accommodate multiple electrodes and enable low-frequency stimulation without limiting insertion depth.
Solution Approach 2:
The electrode array utilizes dimensional transformation by compressing in the radial direction for delivery, then expanding radially after insertion. This dimensional change allows the array to achieve both deep insertion (by reducing cross-sectional profile during delivery) and high electrode capacity (by expanding to full diameter after placement).
3Ease of operation
If the inner ear implant is made rigid for structural stability, then implantation becomes more complicated, but if made flexible, then structural support for multiple electrodes is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The implant exhibits dynamic mechanical properties, being flexible and compressible during implantation to ease delivery through the cochlear opening, then transitioning to a stable expanded configuration that provides sufficient structural support for multiple electrodes. The delivery system temporarily provides rigidity during insertion, which is discarded after deployment.
Solution Approach 2:
The implant structure is segmented into multiple expandable elements or struts that can be compressed together for delivery and then expanded to form a stable framework. This segmentation allows the structure to be flexible during insertion while providing rigid support when expanded, with each segment contributing to both the compression and expansion phases.
4Reliability
If anatomical variations in the inner ear are accommodated, then electrode contact reliability improves, but the device must be highly adaptable increasing complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The device accommodates anatomical variations through parameter changes in its physical configuration. The expandable array adjusts its volume, shape, and contact surface area to match the specific geometry of the patient's cochlea, ensuring reliable electrical contact without requiring custom-designed devices for each anatomical variation.
Solution Approach 2:
The electrode array employs flexible materials and thin-film construction that allow the structure to conform to the irregular inner ear geometry. This flexibility enables the array to adapt to anatomical variations while maintaining structural integrity and electrical contact, avoiding the need for highly complex adaptive mechanisms.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a hearing prosthesis comprising an inner ear implant (10) that has a carrier structure (11) and at least two electrodes (12) arranged at a distance from each other in the longitudinal direction. Said electrodes can be activated individually and are connected to the carrier structure (11). The carrier structure (11) can be compressed and expanded in a stent-like manner in such a way that it (11) can be adapted to the shape of the inner ear. The invention also relates to a method for producing such a hearing prosthesis.