Numerical Study and Optimization of a Novel Piezoelectric Transducer for a Round-Window Stimulating Type Middle-Ear Implant

摘要: Round window (RW) stimulation is a new application of middle ear implants for treating hearing loss, especially those with disease. However, most reports on it are based the use floating mass transducer (FMT), which was not originally designed round stimulation. The mismatch FMT's diameter and membrane's uncontrollable preload transducer, leads to high variability in its clinical outcomes. Accordingly, piezoelectric round-window-stimulating-type implant proposed this paper. consists stack, flextensional amplifier, coupling rod, salver, plate, titanium housing supporting spring. Based constructed finite element model human influences design parameters performance were analyzed. optimal structure spring, determines transducer's resonance frequency, ascertained. results demonstrate that our generates better output than FMT, at low frequency. Besides this, power consumption significantly decreased compared recently reported RW-stimulating transducer.