Design and characterization of piezoelectric actuators on flexible substrate for non-invasive, conductive hearing aids

Mohammad J. Moghimi; Sandhya Chapagain; Miriam Redleaf; Meghna Adibhatla

doi:10.1117/12.2607543

2 March 2022 Design and characterization of piezoelectric actuators on flexible substrate for non-invasive, conductive hearing aids

Mohammad J. Moghimi, Sandhya Chapagain, Miriam Redleaf, Meghna Adibhatla

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 11955, Microfluidics, BioMEMS, and Medical Microsystems XX; 1195503 (2022) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2607543
Event: SPIE BiOS, 2022, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

Conductive hearing loss (CHL) is the most common type of hearing impairment among infants and young children. Most conductive hearing aids, including bone-anchored aids, are invasive and require surgical procedures to be implanted into the skull. In addition, non-invasive wearable conductive hearing aids are bulky, rigid, and unstable. Neither aid is ideal for infants and pediatric patients with conductive hearing loss. Here, we implemented a unimorph piezoelectric actuator into a flexible substrate to achieve a micro-epidermal actuator for non-invasive Band-Aid-like conductive hearing aids. The flexible aid will generate vibrations on the surface of skin and transmit to the cochlea through a skin-bone path, thus bypassing obstructions and damage in the auditory canal. We used finite element analysis to study vibrations from microepidermal actuators and obtain output force level. A Laser Doppler vibrometer was also used to measure displacement of vibrations for an actuator placed on a segment of a cadaveric skull calvarium.

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

Mohammad J. Moghimi, Sandhya Chapagain, Miriam Redleaf, and Meghna Adibhatla "Design and characterization of piezoelectric actuators on flexible substrate for non-invasive, conductive hearing aids", Proc. SPIE 11955, Microfluidics, BioMEMS, and Medical Microsystems XX, 1195503 (2 March 2022); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2607543

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available