Endomicroscopy of the human cochlea using a micro-optical coherence tomography catheter

Janani S Iyer; Biwei Yin; Konstantina M Stankovic; Guillermo J Tearney

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-95991-8

Endomicroscopy of the human cochlea using a micro-optical coherence tomography catheter

Sci Rep. 2021 Sep 9;11(1):17932. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-95991-8.

Authors

Janani S Iyer^#^{1

2

3

4}, Biwei Yin^#^{3

4}, Konstantina M Stankovic^{5

6

7

8}, Guillermo J Tearney^{9

10}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Massachusetts Eye and Ear and Harvard Medical School, 243 Charles St, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
² Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Harvard University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, 1350 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.
³ Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
⁴ Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
⁵ Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Massachusetts Eye and Ear and Harvard Medical School, 243 Charles St, Boston, MA, 02114, USA. kstankovic@stanford.edu.
⁶ Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Harvard University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, 1350 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA. kstankovic@stanford.edu.
⁷ Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94503, USA. kstankovic@stanford.edu.
⁸ Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Massachusetts Eye and Ear and Harvard Medical School, 801 Welch Road, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA. kstankovic@stanford.edu.
⁹ Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 02114, USA. GTEARNEY@PARTNERS.ORG.
¹⁰ Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 02114, USA. GTEARNEY@PARTNERS.ORG.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) is one of the most profound public health concerns of the modern era, affecting 466 million people today, and projected to affect 900 million by the year 2050. Advances in both diagnostics and therapeutics for SNHL have been impeded by the human cochlea's inaccessibility for in vivo imaging, resulting from its extremely small size, convoluted coiled configuration, fragility, and deep encasement in dense bone. Here, we develop and demonstrate the ability of a sub-millimeter-diameter, flexible endoscopic probe interfaced with a micro-optical coherence tomography (μOCT) imaging system to enable micron-scale imaging of the inner ear's sensory epithelium in cadaveric human inner ears.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Animals
Cadaver
Catheters*
Cochlea / diagnostic imaging*
Disease Models, Animal
Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / diagnostic imaging*
Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / etiology
Humans
Mice
Mice, Inbred CBA
Noise / adverse effects
Tomography, Optical Coherence / instrumentation*
Tomography, Optical Coherence / methods*

Grants and funding

R01 HL076398/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/United States