Bionic Ear System Based On Fiber Laser Technology

Cochlea is the sensing organs of auditory system for animals including human, receiving sound information. Due to various reasons, the organs or organizations associated with the organ lost their induction efficacy, which cause severe or more perceptive deafness, and the patients can not listen normally and complete normal language exchanging.For this type of deafness, we can use Cochlear Implant (CI) to restore partial hearing. Traditional cochlear implant based on the cochlear’s sensory-neural mechanism and function, and the acoustic signals in vitro are collected, transformed, and coded. Signals coded are given each of the electrodes embedded in the cochlea by wireless manner, trigger the corresponding auditory nerve or nerve bundles selectively and sequentially. Therefore patient restore partial hearing by the exotic array of acoustic information passed the brain auditory central. Although this device has achieved remarkable results, it is clearly insufficient in more rich and detailed sound information such as in the induction music melody and to distinguish of musical instruments varieties or caller. So we can see the artificial auditory rehabilitation device has yet to be researched deeply and improved continuously. The formidable obstacle of electronic cochlea is the current diffusion, and the current diffusion in nerve tissue limits the number of implanted electrodes, resulting in a decrease of the selective excitation of the auditory nerve.In order to transfer the information of the tone quality and melody more effectively, it is necessary to make more intensive array of electrodes, while maintaining correct, synchronized audio array signal of timing relationship, and warranting the sound changes in envelope and tone melody notes that represents the quality of the instrument be correctly superimposed and perceived at the auditory center. Laser has a good directivity, and the pulse laser has physical characteristics of evoking acoustic effects. The study confirmed that the fiber pulsed laser can trigger the issuance of the effectiveness of the auditory nerve. Compared with the metal electrodes, the optical fiber can easily form a dense array, so it is a good candidate for substituted metal electrode to conduct rich sound spectrum information.This paper presents an artificial auditory test device based on fiber array laser sound effects, and gives the simulation method. The paper based on this study describes the principle and design process of laser optical cochlear program by three aspects of research such as the laser photo-acoustic effect, multi-channel pulse light biological cochlea active tissue irritation, as well as the trigger simulation of multi-channel optical fiber array. In contrast of electrode cochlear by the same encoding scheme conditions, it preliminarily evidences the fiber laser’s feasibility and advantages on artificial auditory, and verifies the laser optical cochlea program’s validity.Finally, we summarized the work done in the paper, and pointed out the deficiencies in the pilot program as well as the next step of study direction.