Stability and Biocompatibility Tests of Alginate as Cochlear Implant Coating Material

Abstract

Inner ear trauma caused by cochlear implantation is a severe clinical problem. It was shown that an electrode alginate coating can reduce the insertion forces in vitro. The grade of the alginate viscosity can be adjusted by using different metal ions for cross-linking the salts of the alginic acid. The aim was to investigate the stability and inner ear biocompatibility of alginate using different in vitro established cross-linkers.

Keywords

• alginate
• bacl2
• cacl2
• stability
• ototoxicity
• cochlear implant coating
• lubricant
• implant functionalization
• insertion forces