Saarland University, Department of Otolaryngology, Faculty of Medicine, Homburg, Germany.
University of Kaiserslautern, Department of Physics, Kaiserslautern, Germany.
J Biomed Opt. 2019 Aug;24(8):1-10. doi: 10.1117/1.JBO.24.8.085003.
Hearing impairment affects ∼460 million people worldwide. Conservative therapies, such as hearing aids, bone conduction systems, and middle ear implants, do not always sufficiently compensate for this deficit. The optical stimulation is currently under investigation as an alternative stimulation strategy for the activation of the hearing system. To assess the biocompatibility margins of this emerging technology, we established a method applicable in whole-mount preparations of murine tympanic membranes (TM). We irradiated the TM of anesthetized mice with 532-nm laser pulses at an average power of 50, 89, 99, and 125 mW at two different locations of the TM and monitored the hearing function with auditory brainstem responses. Laser-power-dependent negative side effects to the TM were observed at power levels exceeding 89 mW. Although we did not find any significant negative effects of optical stimulation on the hearing function in these mice, based on the histology results further studies are necessary for optimization of the used parameters.
全球有大约 4.6 亿人受到听力损伤的影响。保守疗法，如助听器、骨导系统和中耳植入物，并不总是能充分弥补这一缺陷。光刺激目前正作为一种替代的刺激策略，用于激活听觉系统。为了评估这项新兴技术的生物相容性极限，我们建立了一种适用于小鼠鼓膜（TM）全距标本的方法。我们用平均功率为 50、89、99 和 125 mW 的 532nm 激光脉冲照射麻醉小鼠的 TM，在 TM 的两个不同位置进行照射，并通过听觉脑干反应监测听力功能。在功率超过 89 mW 时，观察到与 TM 相关的激光功率依赖性负面效应。尽管我们在这些小鼠中没有发现光刺激对听力功能有任何显著的负面影响，但基于组织学结果，有必要进一步研究以优化所用参数。
