Tran Phillip, Wong Paul, Sue Andrian, Li Qing, Carter Paul
Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2013;2013:5291-4. doi: 10.1109/EMBC.2013.6610743.
It is known that the inclusion of blood vessels in finite element (FE) models can influence the current conduction results. However, there have been no studies exploring the impact of blood vessel conductivity on human head models for cochlear implant (CI) stimulation. The three-dimensional (3D) FE model presented in this paper aims to provide understanding in this regard. The electrical conductivity of blood was varied to determine the sensitivity of the 3D model. The results show that some of the current is exiting the cochlea and taking the jugular vein pathway. When compared to the case with blood vessels being omitted, the current density in the blood increased by 13.1%, 17.2% and 20.7% for low, medium and high electrical conductivity cases considered, respectively. This study suggests that blood vessels cannot be neglected from CI models as the jugular vein can provide a low impedance pathway, through which current can leave the cochlea. It also indicates the importance of using correct tissue property values for performing accurate bioelectric modeling analyses.
众所周知，在有限元（FE）模型中纳入血管会影响电流传导结果。然而，尚无研究探讨血管电导率对用于人工耳蜗（CI）刺激的人体头部模型的影响。本文提出的三维（3D）有限元模型旨在对此提供相关认识。改变血液的电导率以确定三维模型的敏感性。结果表明，部分电流正从耳蜗流出并通过颈静脉途径。与省略血管的情况相比，在所考虑的低、中、高电导率情况下，血液中的电流密度分别增加了13.1%、17.2%和20.7%。本研究表明，在CI模型中血管不可忽略，因为颈静脉可提供低阻抗途径，电流可通过该途径离开耳蜗。这也表明了使用正确的组织属性值进行精确生物电建模分析的重要性。
