Middle ear cavity and ear canal pressure-driven stapes velocity responses in human cadaveric temporal bones

Drive pressure to stapes velocity (Vst) transfer function measurements are collected and compared for human cadaveric temporal bones with the drive pressure alternately on the ear canal (EC) and middle ear cavity (MEC) sides of the tympanic membrane (TM), in order to predict the performance of proposed middle-ear implantable acoustic hearing aids, as well as provide additional data for examining human middle ear mechanics. The chief finding is that, in terms of the Vst response, MEC stimulation performs at least as well as EC stimulation below 8kHz, provided that the EC is unplugged. Plugging the EC causes a reduced response for MEC drive below 2kHz, due to a corresponding reduction of the pressure difference between the two sides of the TM. Between 8 and 11kHz, the MEC drive transfer functions feature an approximately 17dB drop in magnitude below the EC drive case, the cause of which remains unknown. The EC drive transfer functions reported here feature significantly less magnitude roll-off above 1kHz th...