Gapless man: machine interface in the inner ear

无间隙人：内耳中的机器接口

• 批准号: 323105089
• 负责人: Professor Dr. Hubert Löwenheim
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Universitätsklinik für Hals-, Nasen- und Ohrenheilkunde
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2016-12-31 至 2020-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/323105089?language=en
• 关键词: Gapless; man; machine; interface; inner

Over 5% of the world population, 360 Million people, suffer from disabling hearing loss. In severe forms, the auditory function can be restored by a neuroprostheses called a cochlear implant (CI), which functionally replaces lost inner ear sensory cells by directly stimulating the auditory nerve fibers. Despite the success of these devices, some limitations remain, including suboptimal auditory resolution and high energy consumption, which are mainly due to the anatomical gap between the implanted electrode array in the cochlea and the auditory neurons nearby. Within a recently completed, multinational EU FP7 project coordinated by the main applicant (www.nanoci.org), proof of principle for overcoming the anatomical gap by guided growth of auditory nerve fibers towards the electrode array has been obtained in vivo. In addition, in vitro experiments have shown a potential reduction of the stimulus energy by a factor of 5, if the distance of the auditory neurons from the electrode was eliminated. Within the proposed project, we intend to improve the gapless interface through optimized growth factor guidance in combination with chronic electrical stimulation and detailed morphological, biochemical and electrophysiological characterization of regrown auditory neurons in vitro and in vivo. Native and stem cell generated, donated human auditory neurons will be used in vitro for validation. The ultimate goal of the proposed project is to assess the potential of the gapless interface between auditory neurons and the cochlear implant electrodes through chronic electrical stimulation in vivo. If successful, the proposed project may lead to more energy efficient cochlear implant systems with higher auditory resolution and improved sound quality.

超过5%的世界人口，3.6亿人，患有残疾性听力损失。在严重的情况下，听觉功能可以通过称为人工耳蜗（CI）的神经假体来恢复，该假体通过直接刺激听觉神经纤维来在功能上替代失去的内耳感觉细胞。尽管这些设备取得了成功，但仍然存在一些局限性，包括次优的听觉分辨率和高能耗，这主要是由于耳蜗中植入的电极阵列与附近的听觉神经元之间的解剖间隙。在最近完成的由主申请人（www.nanoci.org）协调的多国EU FP7项目中，已经在体内获得了通过引导听觉神经纤维朝向电极阵列生长来克服解剖学间隙的原理证明。此外，体外实验表明，如果消除听觉神经元与电极的距离，刺激能量可能减少5倍。在所提出的项目中，我们打算通过优化生长因子指导结合慢性电刺激和体外和体内再生听觉神经元的详细形态学，生物化学和电生理学表征来改善无间隙接口。将在体外使用天然和干细胞生成的捐赠人听觉神经元进行验证。该项目的最终目标是通过体内慢性电刺激来评估听觉神经元和耳蜗植入电极之间的无间隙接口的潜力。如果成功，该项目可能会导致更节能的人工耳蜗系统，具有更高的听觉分辨率和更好的音质。