Review of ear morphology for the development of active middle ear implants

Introduction The indication for an active middle ear implant such as the Vibrant Soundbridge (VSB) is (in Germany) usually at the end of a therapy regime with several previous surgeries, including for example prosthetic replacement of ossicles. Therefore, with regard to the development of new, especially fully implantable systems, a comprehensive breakdown of external and middle ear morphology will be performed. As an example application, an alternative coupling concept for an implantable sensor as a microphone replacement for active middle ear implants (Essinger 2019) will be investigated. In its current form, this requires an intact sound conduction chain up to the stapes.