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Effect of shorter pulse duration in cochlear neural activation with an 810-nm near-infrared laser

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Abstract

Optical neural stimulation in the cochlea has been presented as an alternative technique to the electrical stimulation due to its potential in spatially selectivity enhancement. So far, few studies have selected the near-infrared (NIR) laser in cochlear neural stimulation and limited optical parameter space has been examined. This paper focused on investigating the optical parameter effect on NIR stimulation of auditory neurons, especially under shorter pulse durations. The spiral ganglion neurons in the cochlea of deafened guinea pigs were stimulated with a pulsed 810-nm NIR laser in vivo. The laser radiation was delivered by an optical fiber and irradiated towards the modiolus. Optically evoked auditory brainstem responses (OABRs) with various optical parameters were recorded and investigated. The OABRs could be elicited with the cochlear deafened animals by using the 810-nm laser in a wide pulse duration ranged from 20 to 1000 μs. Results showed that the OABR intensity increased along with the increasing laser radiant exposure of limited range at each specific pulse duration. In addition, for the pulse durations from 20 to 300 μs, the OABR intensity increased monotonically along with the pulse duration broadening. While for pulse durations above 300 μs, the OABR intensity basically kept stable with the increasing pulse duration. The 810-nm NIR laser could be an effective stimulus in evoking the cochlear neuron response. Our experimental data provided evidence to optimize the pulse duration range, and the results suggested that the pulse durations from 20 to 300 μs could be the optimized range in cochlear neural activation with the 810-nm-wavelength laser.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Center of Laser Fusion, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang, Sichuan, 621900, China

    Jingxuan Wang

  2. School of Microelectronics, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, 250100, China

    Lan Tian

  3. School of Information Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, 250100, China

    Jianren Lu & Ying Wei

  4. Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, The Second Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, 250100, China

    Ming Xia

Authors
  1. Jingxuan Wang
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  2. Lan Tian
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  3. Jianren Lu
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  4. Ming Xia
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  5. Ying Wei
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lan Tian.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Funding source

This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11474185, 61271453, and 61671277), the Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (2013JQE27056), the Fundamental Cross-discipline Research Foundation of Shandong University (2015JC029), and the Shandong Provincial Key Research and Development Program of China (2016GGX101028).

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All procedures performed in studies involving animals were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institution or practice at which the studies were conducted.

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Informed consent is not applicable for the nature of this study.

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English check statement

This manuscript has been checked by a native English speaker for English grammar and syntax. The spelling and formal style of this manuscript have also been checked carefully by a professional editor. We have made our best effort to edit the manuscript to achieve a clear and concise language expression.

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Wang, J., Tian, L., Lu, J. et al. Effect of shorter pulse duration in cochlear neural activation with an 810-nm near-infrared laser. Lasers Med Sci 32, 389–396 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10103-016-2129-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10103-016-2129-y

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