Variations in microanatomy of the human cochlea

The human cochlea shows considerable interindividual variability in size and morphology. In order to develop atraumatic cochlear implant (CI) electrodes, high-precision details of the variability of human anatomy are required. Sixteen human temporal bones were cut around the cochlea in blocks of app...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Avci, Ersin, Nauwelaers, Tim, Lenarz, Thomas, Hamacher, Volkmar, Kral, Andrej
Format: Online
Language:English
Published: BlackWell Publishing Ltd 2014
Online Access:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4265794/
id pubmed-4265794
recordtype oai_dc
spelling pubmed-42657942014-12-31 Variations in microanatomy of the human cochlea Avci, Ersin Nauwelaers, Tim Lenarz, Thomas Hamacher, Volkmar Kral, Andrej Research Articles The human cochlea shows considerable interindividual variability in size and morphology. In order to develop atraumatic cochlear implant (CI) electrodes, high-precision details of the variability of human anatomy are required. Sixteen human temporal bones were cut around the cochlea in blocks of approximately 3.5 × 3.5 cm. The bones were scanned by using a Skyscan 1173 micro-computed tomography (μCT) device. Mimics software (Materialise, Leuven, Belgium) was used to segment out the scala tympani (ST) from the μCT images. A three-dimensional surface model of the segmented area was generated for each cochlea. Cross-sectional images were taken and analyzed by custom-designed software in MATLAB. Comparison of different STs showed large variability in cross-sectional diameter (CSD), vertical trajectory, and height of the ST. Relative standard deviations of the CSD were between 9 and 15%. Heights measured at the center of the ST exceeded those in the modiolar and lateral regions of the scala. At the lateral region, the height decreased significantly at the beginning of the second turn. In the vertical trajectory, critical anatomic features were observed, such as dips, vertical jumps, and peaks. Rosenthal's canal (RC) extended to between 560 and 650°. We found a correlation between the length of the RC and that of the ST. The ST was segmented and the internal dimensions measured by using μCT. We observed large dimensional variability between different STs. These differences could have considerable implications for approaches to the design of CI arrays, especially in terms of their ability to preserve residual hearing during insertion of the electrode array. J. Comp. Neurol. 522:3245–3261, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. BlackWell Publishing Ltd 2014-10-01 2014-04-12 /pmc/articles/PMC4265794/ /pubmed/24668424 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cne.23594 Text en © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
repository_type Open Access Journal
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution US National Center for Biotechnology Information
building NCBI PubMed
collection Online Access
language English
format Online
author Avci, Ersin
Nauwelaers, Tim
Lenarz, Thomas
Hamacher, Volkmar
Kral, Andrej
spellingShingle Avci, Ersin
Nauwelaers, Tim
Lenarz, Thomas
Hamacher, Volkmar
Kral, Andrej
Variations in microanatomy of the human cochlea
author_facet Avci, Ersin
Nauwelaers, Tim
Lenarz, Thomas
Hamacher, Volkmar
Kral, Andrej
author_sort Avci, Ersin
title Variations in microanatomy of the human cochlea
title_short Variations in microanatomy of the human cochlea
title_full Variations in microanatomy of the human cochlea
title_fullStr Variations in microanatomy of the human cochlea
title_full_unstemmed Variations in microanatomy of the human cochlea
title_sort variations in microanatomy of the human cochlea
description The human cochlea shows considerable interindividual variability in size and morphology. In order to develop atraumatic cochlear implant (CI) electrodes, high-precision details of the variability of human anatomy are required. Sixteen human temporal bones were cut around the cochlea in blocks of approximately 3.5 × 3.5 cm. The bones were scanned by using a Skyscan 1173 micro-computed tomography (μCT) device. Mimics software (Materialise, Leuven, Belgium) was used to segment out the scala tympani (ST) from the μCT images. A three-dimensional surface model of the segmented area was generated for each cochlea. Cross-sectional images were taken and analyzed by custom-designed software in MATLAB. Comparison of different STs showed large variability in cross-sectional diameter (CSD), vertical trajectory, and height of the ST. Relative standard deviations of the CSD were between 9 and 15%. Heights measured at the center of the ST exceeded those in the modiolar and lateral regions of the scala. At the lateral region, the height decreased significantly at the beginning of the second turn. In the vertical trajectory, critical anatomic features were observed, such as dips, vertical jumps, and peaks. Rosenthal's canal (RC) extended to between 560 and 650°. We found a correlation between the length of the RC and that of the ST. The ST was segmented and the internal dimensions measured by using μCT. We observed large dimensional variability between different STs. These differences could have considerable implications for approaches to the design of CI arrays, especially in terms of their ability to preserve residual hearing during insertion of the electrode array. J. Comp. Neurol. 522:3245–3261, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
publisher BlackWell Publishing Ltd
publishDate 2014
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4265794/
_version_ 1613167462146113536