Near-Infrared Laser Stimulation of the Auditory Nerve in Guinea Pigs

This study has investigated the feasibility of 980-nm low-energy pulsed near-infrared laser stimulation to evoke auditory responses, as well as the effects of radiant exposure and pulse duration on auditory responses. In the experiments, a hole was drilled in the basal turn of the cochlea in guinea pigs. An optical fiber with a 980-nm pulsed infrared laser was inserted into the hole, orientating the spiral ganglion cells in the cochlea. To model deafness, the tympanic membrane was mechanically damaged. Acoustically evoked compound action potentials (ACAPs) were recorded before and after deafness, and optically evoked compound action potentials (OCAPs) were recorded after deafness. Similar spatial selectivity between optical and acoustical stimulation was found. In addition, OCAP amplitudes increased with radiant exposure, indicating a photothermal mechanism induced by optical stimulation. Furthermore, at a fixed radiant exposure, OCAP amplitudes decreased as pulse duration increased, suggesting that optical stimulation might be governed by the time duration over which the energy is delivered. Thus, the current experiments have demonstrated that a 980-nm pulsed near-infrared laser with low energy can evoke auditory neural responses similar to those evoked by acoustical stimulation. This approach could be used to develop optical cochlear implants.