Spiral form of the human cochlea results from spatial constraints

M. Pietsch, L. Aguirre Dávila, P. Erfurt, E. Avci, T. Lenarz, A. Kral*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

81 Citations (Scopus)
41 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The human inner ear has an intricate spiral shape often compared to shells of mollusks, particularly to the nautilus shell. It has inspired many functional hearing theories. The reasons for this complex geometry remain unresolved. We digitized 138 human cochleae at microscopic resolution and observed an astonishing interindividual variability in the shape. A 3D analytical cochlear model was developed that fits the analyzed data with high precision. The cochlear geometry neither matched a proposed function, namely sound focusing similar to a whispering gallery, nor did it have the form of a nautilus. Instead, the innate cochlear blueprint and its actual ontogenetic variants were determined by spatial constraints and resulted from an efficient packing of the cochlear duct within the petrous bone. The analytical model predicts well the individual 3D cochlear geometry from few clinical measures and represents a clinical tool for an individualized approach to neurosensory restoration with cochlear implants.

Original languageEnglish
Article number7500
Pages (from-to)1-11
Number of pages11
JournalScientific Reports
Volume7
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2017
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Copyright the Author(s) 2017. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.
A correction exists for this article and has been incorporated into the published article. It can also be found in Scientific Reports (2018) 8:7020 at doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-25325-8

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