Ramped pulse shapes are more efficient for cochlear implant stimulation in an animal model.

ABSTRACT: In all commercial cochlear implant (CI) devices, the electric stimulation is performed with a rectangular pulse that generally has two phases of opposite polarity. To date, developing new stimulation strategies has relied on the efficacy of this shape. Here, we investigate the potential of a novel stimulation paradigm that uses biophysically-inspired electrical ramped pulses. Using electrically-evoked auditory brainstem response (eABR) recordings in mice, we found that less charge, but higher current level amplitude, is needed to evoke responses with ramped shapes that are similar in amplitude to responses obtained with rectangular shapes. The most charge-efficient pulse shape had a rising ramp over both phases, supporting findings from previous in vitro studies. This was also true for lon

SUBMITTER: Navntoft CA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7039949 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature