Use of new measurements to develop a model of bone conduction in animal and human

摘要 骨传导(BC)是通过头骨振动将声音传递到内耳。两根骨头 传导和空气传导(AC)，声音到达内耳的通常途径，刺激 耳蜗内的听力器官以同样的方式。骨传导在临床上很重要，因为它被用来 诊断和治疗慢性和先天性中耳疾病。BC助听器克服传导性听力 通过绕过中耳的损失，允许BC的内耳机制刺激感觉毛细胞 耳蜗骨的。骨传导耳机在嘈杂的环境中被用来帮助交流 同时允许使用听力保护来进行交流刺激。此外，BC耳机 可在需要保持打开的外耳时使用，以不影响交流听力。在……里面 为了改进这样的设备，并开发更多可控的听力损失测试，我们需要一个完整的模型 BC对正常和病理耳的刺激作用。 BC听证由三个主要部分组成，主要作用于1)外部、2)中间和3) 内耳。它们对听力的相对贡献还没有完全被理解。我们的目标是量化这些贡献 栗鼠的外耳和内耳组件，因为它们由几个机制组成，并且 开发并测试棕鼠和人类BC听力的网络模型。内耳的贡献 机制(液体惯性、骨压迫和通过脑脊液传递声压) 将通过测量耳内压(砧骨速度和耳蜗音)来确定 压力)。外耳机制(耳道压迫、运动)的贡献 鼓膜相对于颅骨的振动，以及颌骨的振动)将被确定 AC和BC期间耳道声压和鼓膜速度的测量 刺激。 为了进一步了解BC的机制，我们优化了一个简单的中耳模型来匹配 来自栗鼠的现代交流声音数据，一种具有与人类相似的中耳结构和频率范围的动物 已经被用来研究与噪音相关的听力损失。我们将合适的BC源添加到我们的模型中， 它们的频率依赖关系由我们的测量定义。我们将使用以下工具优化模型参数 我们开发的新技术。该模型将被推广到人类BC模型，并进行测试和 使用现有的人类BC数据进行优化。我们的模型将使我们能够研究耳部疾病对 并开发更好的基于BC的设备来治疗耳部疾病和替代模式 沟通。

Abstract Bone conduction (BC) is the transmission of sound to the inner ear by way of skull vibration. Both bone conduction and air conduction (AC), the usual pathway by which sound reaches the inner ear, stimulate the organ of hearing within the cochlea in the same manner. Bone conduction is important clinically, as it is used to diagnose and treat chronic and congenital middle-ear disease. BC hearing aids overcome conductive hearing loss by bypassing the middle ear, allowing the inner-ear mechanisms of BC to stimulate the sensory hair cells of the cochlea. Bone-conduction headphones are being used in noisy environments to aid in communication while simultaneously allowing for the use of hearing protection to AC stimulus. Additionally, BC headphones may be used when it is necessary to maintain an open external ear, so as to not compromise AC hearing. In order improve such devices and to develop more-controlled tests for hearing loss, we need a complete model of BC stimulation of the normal and pathological ear. BC hearing comprises three major components that act primarily on the 1) external, 2) middle, and 3) inner ear. Their relative contributions to hearing are not fully understood. We aim to quantify the contributions of the external- and inner-ear components in chinchilla, as they are comprised of several mechanisms, and to develop and test a network model for BC hearing in chinchilla and human. The contribution of the inner-ear mechanisms (fluid inertia, compression by bone, and transmission of sound pressure via cerebrospinal fluid) will be determined from measurements of intracochlear pressures (stapes velocity and cochlear sound pressure) during BC stimulation. Contribution of the external-ear mechanisms (ear canal compression, motion of the tympanic membrane with respect to the skull bone, and vibration of the jaw bone) will be determined from measurements of ear canal sound pressure and tympanic membrane velocity during AC and BC stimulation. For further understanding of BC mechanisms, we optimize a simple model of the middle ear to fit modern AC sound data from chinchilla, an animal with human-like middle-ear structures and frequency range of hearing that has been used to study noise-related hearing loss. We add suitable BC sources to our model, with their frequency dependence defined by our measurements. We will optimize our model parameters using novel techniques we have developed. The model will be generalized to a human BC model, and tested and optimized using existing human BC data. Our model will allow us to investigate the effects of ear disease on hearing and to develop better BC-based devices for both treatment of ear disease and alternative modes of communication.