Development of probes for cochlear implants

In this paper the development of the probes with respect to the fabrication aspect is shown. The stiff probe is formed by defining the probe thickness and releasing at the end by deep reactive ion etching. These stiff probes were fabricated in order to study the problems involved in the fabrication procedure and the behaviour of the probes when they are inserted perpendicular to the auditory nerve. The probes were fabricated with lengths ranging from 3.5 mm up to 13.5 mm and thickness between 50 to 60 microns.