First clinical implementation of insertion force measurement in cochlear implantation surgery.

Purpose: The significance of atraumatic electrode array (EA) insertion in cochlear implant (CI) surgery is widely acknowledged, with consensus that forces due to EA insertion are directly correlated with insertion trauma. Unfortunately, the manual perception of these forces through haptic feedback is inherently limited, and techniques for force measurements to monitor the insertion are not yet available. Addressing this gap, we developed of a force-sensitive insertion tool capable of capturing real-time insertion forces during standard CI surgery.

Preclinical evaluation of a tool for insertion force measurements in cochlear implant surgery.

Purpose: Trauma that may be inflicted to the inner ear (cochlea) during the insertion of an electrode array (EA) in cochlear implant (CI) surgery can significantly decrease the hearing outcome of patients with residual hearing. Interaction forces between the EA and the cochlea are a promising indicator for the likelihood of intracochlear trauma. However, insertion forces have only been measured in laboratory setups.

Exchange biased surface acoustic wave magnetic field sensors.

Magnetoelastic composites which use surface acoustic waves show great potential as sensors of low frequency and very low amplitude magnetic fields. While these sensors already provide adequate frequency bandwidth for most applications, their detectability has found its limitation in the low frequency noise generated by the magnetoelastic film. Amongst other contributions, this noise is closely connected to domain wall activity evoked by the strain from the acoustic waves propagating through the film.

A Tool to Enable Intraoperative Insertion Force Measurements for Cochlear Implant Surgery.

Objective: Residual hearing preservation during cochlear implant (CI) surgery is closely linked to the magnitude of intracochlear forces acting during the insertion process. So far, these forces have only been measured in vitro. Therefore, the range of insertion forces and the magnitude of damage-inducing thresholds in the human cochlea in vivo remain unknown.

Sputter Deposited Magnetostrictive Layers for SAW Magnetic Field Sensors.

For the best possible limit of detection of any thin film-based magnetic field sensor, the functional magnetic film properties are an essential parameter. For sensors based on magnetostrictive layers, the chemical composition, morphology and intrinsic stresses of the layer have to be controlled during film deposition to further control magnetic influences such as crystallographic effects, pinning effects and stress anisotropies. For the application in magnetic surface acoustic wave sensors, the magnetostrictive layers are deposited on rotated piezoelectric single crystal substrates.

Thin-Film-Based SAW Magnetic Field Sensors.

In this work, the first surface acoustic-wave-based magnetic field sensor using thin-film AlScN as piezoelectric material deposited on a silicon substrate is presented. The fabrication is based on standard semiconductor technology. The acoustically active area consists of an AlScN layer that can be excited with interdigital transducers, a smoothing SiO layer, and a magnetostrictive FeCoSiB film.

Phase Noise of SAW Delay Line Magnetic Field Sensors.

Surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensors for the detection of magnetic fields are currently being studied scientifically in many ways, especially since both their sensitivity as well as their detectivity could be significantly improved by the utilization of shear horizontal surface acoustic waves, i.e., Love waves, instead of Rayleigh waves.

Converse Magnetoelectric Composite Resonator for Sensing Small Magnetic Fields.

Magnetoelectric (ME) thin film composites consisting of sputtered piezoelectric (PE) and magnetostrictive (MS) layers enable for measurements of magnetic fields passively, i.e. an AC magnetic field directly generates an ME voltage by mechanical coupling of the MS deformation to the PE phase.

24-Month-Olds' Selective Learning Is Not an All-or-None Phenomenon.

Evidence that children maintain some memories of labels that are unlikely to be shared by the broader linguistic community suggests that children's selective learning is not an all-or-none phenomenon. Across three experiments, we examine the contexts in which 24-month-olds show selective learning and whether they adjust their selective learning if provided with cues of in-context relevance. In each experiment, toddlers were first familiarized with a source who acted on familiar objects in either typical or atypical ways (e.

Routine daily chest radiography in patients with pulmonary artery catheters.

Background: Pulmonary artery catheters are widely used invasive monitoring devices in critically ill patients. Clinicians disagree about whether daily chest radiographs are needed or clinical parameters alone are sufficient to verify catheter placement.

Objectives: To determine whether daily chest radiographs are needed to assess migration of pulmonary artery catheters.