How flexibility and eardrum cone shape affect sound conduction in single-ossicle ears: a dynamic model study of the chicken middle ear.
How flexibility and eardrum cone shape affect sound conduction in single-ossicle ears: a dynamic model study of the chicken middle ear.
Biomech Model Mechanobiol. 2019 Aug 01;:
Authors: Muyshondt PGG, Dirckx JJJ
Abstract
It is believed that non-mammals have poor hearing at high frequencies because the sound-conduction performance of their single-ossicle middle ears declines above a certain frequency. To better understand this behavior, a dynamic three-dimensional finite-element model of the chicken middle ear was constructed. The effect of changing the flexibility of the cartilaginous extracolumella on middle-ear sound conduction was simulated from 0.125 to 8 kHz, and the influence of the outward-bulging cone shape of the eardrum was studied by altering the depth and orientation of the eardrum cone in the model. It was found that extracolumella flexibility increases the middle-ear pressure gain at low frequencies due to an enhancement of eardrum motion, but it decreases the pressure gain at high frequencies as the bony columella becomes more resistant to extracolumella movement. Similar to the inward-pointing cone shape of the mammalian eardrum, it was shown that the outward-pointing cone shape of the chicken eardrum enhances the middle-ear pressure gain compared to a flat eardrum shape. When the outward-pointing eardrum was replaced by an inward-pointing eardrum, the pressure gain decreased slightly over the entire frequency range....
Source: Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology - Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Muyshondt PGG, Dirckx JJJ Tags: Biomech Model Mechanobiol Source Type: research
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