Simulation of the optical stimulation mechanism of cochlear nerves
GUAN Tian1, YANG Muqun1,2, WEI Zikun1,2, JIANG Yucheng1,2, WANG Jian3
1. Research Center of Biomedical Engineering, Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen 518055, China;
2. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China;
3. Electronics and Communication College, Shenzhen Institute of Information Technology, Shenzhen 518172, China
Abstract：There has been much research in recent years on pulsed laser stimulation to evoke auditory nerve responses. However, the mechanism is not yet fully understood. This paper describes use of the simulation software COMSOL Multiphysics to build a three-dimensional model to study both the photoacoustic and photo-thermal effect induced by the pulsed laser stimulation of the cochlea, combined with in vivo experiments on guinea pigs to analyze the mechanism. The simulations show that pulsed lasers cause a temperature rise, but also trigger a photoacoustic effect with the compound action potentials induced in guinea pigs deafened acutely by drugs. The results demonstrate that the response from optical stimulation is more likely the superposition of photoacoustic and photo-thermal effects.
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2017, Vol. 57 
