Prosthetic Stimulation of the Auditory System with Intraneural Electrodes

Prosthetic electrical stimulation of the auditory system is presently accomplished either via scala tympani electrode arrays or via cochlear nucleus surface electrode arrays. Many of the early cochlear implant studies, however, used electrode arrays placed within the auditory nerve itself--either within the modiolus or within the trunk of the nerve. For many reasons, such intraneural electrode arrays were abandoned in favor of intrascalar arrays. There remain, however, several theoretical and practical reasons why intraneural arrays might be advantageous, and recent developments in electrode technology solve many of the problems posed by early attempts at intraneural stimulation. In this article, we review the history and current status of intraneural auditory stimulation, and present some preliminary results of this mode of stimulation in an animal model.