- Castle, Nicholas;
- Liang, Junfeng;
- Smith, Matthew;
- Petersen, Brett;
- Matson, Cayman;
- Eldridge, Tara;
- Zhang, Ke;
- Lee, Chung-Hao;
- Liu, Yingtao;
- Dai, Chenkai
Cochlear implant (CI) surgery is one of the most utilized treatments for severe hearing loss. However, the effects of a successful scala tympani insertion on the mechanics of hearing are not yet fully understood. This paper presents a finite element (FE) model of the chinchilla inner ear for studying the interrelationship between the mechanical function and the insertion angle of a CI electrode. This FE model includes a three-chambered cochlea and full vestibular system, accomplished using µ-MRI and µ-CT scanning technologies. This models first application found minimal loss of residual hearing due to insertion angle after CI surgery, and this indicates that it is a reliable and helpful tool for future applications in CI design, surgical planning, and stimuli setup.