Advanced Science (Apr 2024)

Piezoelectric Multi‐Channel Bilayer Transducer for Sensing and Filtering Ossicular Vibration

  • Muhammed Berat Yüksel,
  • Ali Can Atik,
  • Haluk Külah

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202308277
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 16
pp. n/a – n/a

Abstract

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Abstract This paper presents an acoustic transducer for fully implantable cochlear implants (FICIs), which can be implanted on the hearing chain to detect and filter the ambient sound in eight frequency bands between 250 and 6000 Hz. The transducer dimensions are conventional surgery compatible. The structure is formed with 3 × 3 × 0.36 mm active space for each layer and 5.2 mg total active mass excluding packaging. Characterization of the transducer is carried on an artificial membrane whose vibration characteristic is similar to the umbo vibration. On the artificial membrane, piezoelectric transducer generates up to 320.3 mVpp under 100 dB sound pressure level (SPL) excitation and covers the audible acoustic frequency. The measured signal‐to‐noise‐ratio (SNR) of the channels is up to 84.2 dB. Sound quality of the transducer for fully implantable cochlear implant application is graded with an objective qualification method (PESQ) for the first time in the literature to the best of the knowledge, and scored 3.42/4.5.

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