Voltage readout from a piezoelectric intracochlear acoustic transducer implanted in a living guinea pig

The ability to measure the voltage readout from a sensor implanted inside the living cochlea enables continuous monitoring of intracochlear acoustic pressure locally, which could improve cochlear implants. We developed a piezoelectric intracochlear acoustic transducer (PIAT) designed to sense the acoustic pressure while fully implanted inside a living guinea pig cochlea. The PIAT, fabricated using micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) techniques, consisted of an array of four piezoelectric cantilevers with varying lengths to enhance sensitivity across a wide frequency bandwidth. Prior to implantation, benchtop tests were conducted to characterize the device performance in air and in water. When implanted in the cochlea of an anesthetized guinea pig, the in vivo voltage response from the PIAT was measured in response to 80–95 dB sound pressure level 1–14 kHz sinusoidal acoustic excitation at the entrance of the guinea pig’s ear canal. All sensed signals were above the noise floor and unaffected by crosstalk from the cochlear microphonic or external electrical interference. These results demonstrate that external acoustic stimulus can be sensed via the piezoelectric voltage response of the implanted MEMS transducer inside the living cochlea, providing key steps towards developing intracochlear acoustic sensors to replace external or subcutaneous microphones for auditory prosthetics.