Design and analysis of a flextensional piezoelectric actuator for incus-body driving type middle ear implant

Abstract

In order to decrease the power consumption of current piezoelectric stack actuator for incus-body driving type middle ear implant (MEI), a new MEI's piezoelectric actuator with a flextensional amplifier was proposed. To aid the design process of this actuator, a human middleear mechanical model, which incorporated the viscoelastic properties of middle ear soft tissues, was established using finite element method. And the validation of this model was confirmed by comparing the model-predicted results with temporal bone experimental data. Then, based on this model, a coupling mechanical model of the flextensional piezoelectric actuator and the human ear was constructed and used to study the equivalent sound pressure level and power consumption of the actuator. The results show that the hearing compensation performance of the piezoelectric actuator was improved by introducing the flextensional amplifier, and the power consumption of the actuator was reduced significantly.