μLED‐based optical cochlear implants for spectrally selective activation of the auditory nerve

Abstract: Electrical cochlear implants (eCIs) partially restore hearing and enable speech comprehension to more than half a million users, thereby re-connecting deaf patients to the auditory scene surrounding them. Yet, eCIs suffer from limited spectral selectivity, resulting from current spread around each electrode contact and causing poor speech recognition in the presence of background noise. Optogenetic stimulation of the auditory nerve might overcome this limitation as light can be conveniently confined in space. Here, we combined virus-mediated optogenetic manipulation of cochlear spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs) and microsystems engineering to establish acute multi-channel optical cochlear implant (oCI) stimulation in adult Mongolian gerbils. oCIs based on 16 microscale thin-film light-emitting diodes (μLEDs) evoked tonotopic activation of the auditory pathway with high spectral selectivity and modest power requirements in hearing and deaf gerbils. These results prove the feasibility of μLED-based oCIs for spectrally selective activation of the auditory nerve

Location
Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
Extent
Online-Ressource
Language
Englisch
Notes
EMBO molecular medicine. - 12, 8 (2020) , e12387, ISSN: 1757-4676

Event
Veröffentlichung
(where)
Freiburg
(who)
Universität
(when)
2020
Creator
Dieter, Alexander
Klein, Eric
Keppeler, Daniel
Jablonski, Lukasz
Harczos, Tamas
Hoch, Gerhard
Rankovic, Vladan
Paul, Oliver
Jeschke, Marcus
Ruther, Patrick
Moser, Tobias
Contributor
Materialien

DOI
10.15252/emmm.202012387
URN
urn:nbn:de:bsz:25-freidok-1726816
Rights
Kein Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
Last update
15.08.2025, 7:21 AM CEST

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Associated

Time of origin

  • 2020

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