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Abstract
This paper investigates the spatial resolution of electrical intracochlear stimulation
in order to enable further refinement of cochlear implants. For this purpose electrical
potential distributions around a conventional human intracochlear electrode (NUCLEUS-22)
were measured in a tank, in cat cadaver cochleae and in living cat cochleae. Potential
gradients were calculated where of importance. The values were compared to spatial
tuning curves from cat primary auditory afferents in electrical mono-, bi-, and various
tripolar stimulation modes. Finally, a lumped element model was developed to elucidate
the single fiber data. Tank potential measurements show the principal features of
the different stimulation modes but are not sufficient to explain all the features
of experimental data from single fibers. Intracochlear potential measurements indicate
an increase in spatial resolution in an apical direction. The single fiber data also
confirm that a tripolar stimulus configuration provides significantly better spatial
resolution than any other stimulation mode presently in use.