Sound-induced micromechanical motions in an isolated cochlea preparation

The mechanical processes at work within the organ of Corti can be greatly elucidated by measuring both radial motions and traveling-wave behavior of structures within this organ in response to sound stimuli. To enable such measurements, we have developed a new preparation for observing three-dimensional motions of micromechanical structures in the apical region of an isolated gerbil cochlea. The cochlea is submerged in a low-chloride, low-calcium artificial perilymph solution and cemented to the bottom of a Petri dish at an angle. The bone above scala vestibuli of one half of the apical turn is removed to allow optical imaging with a 40x, 0.8 NA water-immersion objective. Reissner's membrane is left intact. Illumination is provided with a blue LED coupled to an optical fiber. The fiber is positioned next to the bone surrounding scala tympani of the apical turn, so that the organ of Corti is illuminated from below. The resulting optical access allows imaging of a variety of structures that have been proposed to play a role in cochlear mechanics, including inner and outer hair cell bundles, the tectorial membrane, inner and outer pillar cells, and efferent fibers in the tunnel of Corti. In some preparations, individual stereocilia of inner hair cell bundles can be resolved.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Page, Scott Lawrence

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Dennis M. Freeman.

• Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/37926

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/37926