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Vestibular Prosthesis, Interface

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Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience

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Definition

A vestibular prosthesis is an implantable neural stimulator system designed to restore sensation of head movement for individuals who have lost the mechanotransduction function of hair cells in both inner ear labyrinths. Similar to cochlear implants (which sense sound using a microphone, decompose that sound into independent components, and then electrically stimulate the cochlear nerve), a vestibular prosthesis senses head motion using inertial sensors and conveys head angular velocity information to the corresponding branches of the vestibular nerve.

Detailed Description

Normal Vestibular Function

In normal individuals, sensation of head rotation, orientation, and translation originates in the semicircular canals (SCCs) and otoconial end organs in each labyrinth. The two labyrinths modulate activity on afferent fibers within each of the five vestibular nerve branches so as to provide the central nervous system with information regarding the head’s 3-dimensional (3D)...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vestibular NeuroEngineering Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Dr. Chenkai Dai & Prof. Charles Della Santina

Authors
  1. Dr. Chenkai Dai
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  2. Prof. Charles Della Santina
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chenkai Dai .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Dieter Jaeger

  2. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA

    Ranu Jung

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Dai, C., Della Santina, C. (2014). Vestibular Prosthesis, Interface. In: Jaeger, D., Jung, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_13-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_13-7

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-7320-6

  • eBook Packages: Living Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Vestibular Prosthesis, Interface
    Published:
    08 May 2014

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_13-7

  2. Original

    Vestibular Prosthesis, Interface
    Published:
    15 March 2014

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_13-6

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