Comparison of the electrical stimulation performance of four cochlear implant electrodes

This paper proposes a method to compare the neural excitation of four different cochlear implant electrodes by coupling finite-element analysis and computational neuroscience method. The goal is to identify the type of electrodes and electrode positions that will maximize the neural excitation of the human cochlea. Electrodes are moved translationally and rotationally in the inner cochlea based on straight and circular cochlea models. The four electrodes modeled are the banded electrodes, half banded electrodes, planar electrodes, and ball electrodes, and they were rotated from +180° to -180°. The planar electrode generates the highest stimulation of the four electrodes for a given electrical power input. This paper also proposes means to compute directions which the electrode should point to in order to maximize the neural excitation of a human cochlea.