Nonlinear mechanics of the organ of Corti caused by Deiters cells

Author

Böhnke, Frank ; Arnold, Wolfgang

Author_Institution

Dept. of Otorhinolaryngology, Tech. Univ. Munich, Germany

Volume

45

Issue

10

fYear

1998

Firstpage

1227

Lastpage

1233

Abstract

Though the organ of Corti (OC) has been an object of experimental and theoretical hearing research, open questions remain concerning the processing of acoustic signals by the cochlea where the OC is located. Today there is extensive knowledge about single parts of the organ but a lack of understanding as to how these elements act together. One of the reasons for this is the missing analysis of the mechanics of the OC in three dimensions. In order to fill this gap, the authors have analyzed a short section (0.06 mm) of the basilar membrane including the OC and evaluated its nonlinear finite element model numerically. The Deiters cells are idealized as thin elastic beams with a comparably low modulus of elasticity of actin. Therefore, they show nonlinear mechanical behavior generating additional frequency components with two-tone stimulation.

Keywords

biomechanics; biomembranes; cellular biophysics; ear; finite element analysis; physiological models; 0.06 mm; Deiters cells; acoustic signals processing; actin modulus of elasticity; additional frequency components generation; basilar membrane; geometrical nonlinearity; nonlinear finite element model; nonlinear mechanics; numerical evaluation; organ of Corti; two-tone stimulation; Acoustic beams; Auditory system; Biomembranes; Elasticity; Finite element methods; Frequency; Hair; Helium; Numerical models; Signal processing; Basilar Membrane; Biomechanics; Elasticity; Hair Cells, Auditory, Outer; Humans; Models, Biological; Nonlinear Dynamics; Stress, Mechanical;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Biomedical Engineering, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9294

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/10.720200

Filename

720200