Institute of AudioNeuroTechnology & Dept. of Experimental Otology, ENT Clinics, School of Medicine, Hanover Medical University, Hanover, Germany.
Institute of Biometry, School of Medicine, Hanover Medical University, Hanover, Germany.
Sci Rep. 2017 Aug 8;7(1):7500. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-07795-4.
The human inner ear has an intricate spiral shape often compared to shells of mollusks, particularly to the nautilus shell. It has inspired many functional hearing theories. The reasons for this complex geometry remain unresolved. We digitized 138 human cochleae at microscopic resolution and observed an astonishing interindividual variability in the shape. A 3D analytical cochlear model was developed that fits the analyzed data with high precision. The cochlear geometry neither matched a proposed function, namely sound focusing similar to a whispering gallery, nor did it have the form of a nautilus. Instead, the innate cochlear blueprint and its actual ontogenetic variants were determined by spatial constraints and resulted from an efficient packing of the cochlear duct within the petrous bone. The analytical model predicts well the individual 3D cochlear geometry from few clinical measures and represents a clinical tool for an individualized approach to neurosensory restoration with cochlear implants.
人类内耳具有复杂的螺旋形状，常被比作贝类，尤其是鹦鹉螺壳。它激发了许多功能听觉理论。这种复杂几何形状的原因仍未解决。我们以微观分辨率对 138 个人类耳蜗进行了数字化，并观察到形状存在惊人的个体间变异性。开发了一个 3D 分析耳蜗模型，该模型可以高精度拟合分析数据。耳蜗几何形状既不符合提出的功能，即类似于耳语廊的声音聚焦，也不符合鹦鹉螺的形状。相反，先天耳蜗蓝图及其实际个体发生变体是由空间限制决定的，并且是由于耳蜗管在岩骨内的有效包装而产生的。分析模型可以很好地从少数临床测量值预测个体的 3D 耳蜗几何形状，并代表了一种临床工具，用于通过耳蜗植入物进行个体化的神经感觉恢复。
