Study on the mechanism of sound conduction of the reconstructive model of human auditory ossicles

Abstract

Tympanoplasty is a surgical operation performed for diseases that make air-bone gap larger. Ossicular reconstruction for recovery of hearing is a part of this surgery. But there are some cases in which postoperative hearing depends on each patient’s base symptom, so this surgery has not been expected yet as a versatile way for recovery for hearing. There are some studies on the mechanism of sound conduction via the human intact middle ear, however we have not yet obtained enough information related to the mechanism of sound conduction of reconstructive models of auditory ossicles. In this study, we adopted threedimensional Finite Element Method (FEM) models of a human intact middle ear and reconstructed middle ear, and examined the mechanism of sound conduction of reconstructive models of auditory ossicles using vibroacoustic numerical analysis. As a result of the analysis, the validity of this study was confirmed by comparing them with the previous studies.