Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42818525›Full record

ArticleResearch square2026

Stimulation-Stability and Preclinical Bench Testing of a New Auditory Nerve Interface.

Taylor Stump, Stefan Strahl, Joseph Crew, Moritz Leber, Keno Hübner, Sandeep Negi, Justin Vankirk, Meredith E Adams, Thomas Lenarz, Florian Solzbacher and 2 more

Abstract readPreprint
In one paragraph

Article in Research square, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Taylor StumpDepartment of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, 26506, WV, USA.
Stefan StrahlMED-EL, GmbH, Innsbruck, Austria.
Joseph CrewBlackrock Neurotech, Salt Lake City, 84108, UT, USA.
Moritz LeberBlackrock Neurotech, Salt Lake City, 84108, UT, USA.
Keno HübnerMED-EL, GmbH, Innsbruck, Austria.
Sandeep NegiBlackrock Neurotech, Salt Lake City, 84108, UT, USA.
Justin VankirkDepartment of Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, 26506, WV, USA.
Meredith E AdamsDepartment of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 48109, MI, USA.
Thomas LenarzDepartment of Otolaryngology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
Florian SolzbacherDepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, 84112, UT, USA.
Hubert LimDepartment of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 55455, MN, USA.
Loren RiethDepartment of Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, 26506, WV, USA.

Funding

Supplement to Assess the MRI Safety of an Intracranial Auditory Nerve ImplantUG3NS107688 · NINDS · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · PI ADAMS, MEREDITH EVELYN, FRANKLIN, ROBERT KYLE · 2018 to 2022
$7.0M
Development and Translation of an Intracranial Auditory Nerve ImplantUH3NS107688 · NINDS · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · PI ADAMS, MEREDITH EVELYN, LEBER, MORITZ MICHAEL · 2025 to 2025
$1.5M
NINDS NIH HHS UG3 NS107688NINDS NIH HHS UH3 NS107688
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Objective: Cochlear implants are the flagship sensory neural prosthetic, enabling improved hearing and speech perception in >1 million patients with hearling loss Zeng (2022). Despite over three decades of active work and innovations in cochlear implants, hearing performance for complex tasks such as speech-in-noise and music appreciation are still quite limited, putatively due to the challenge of selectively stimulating the auditory nerve with intracochlear electrodes through the bony cochlear wall. Our approach is to more selectively evoke hearing percepts through the development of an Auditory Nerve Implant (ANI) device that uses penetrating microelectrodes placed directly in the nerve for stimulation, and which will be evaluated through psychophysical testing as part of a first-in-human study. Stability and integrity of ANI electrodes during passive soaking and stimulation are needed to support initiation of the clinical trial, which we evaluated through thermal accelerated saline soak testing and stimulation stability testing. Methods: The ANI electrode stability in saline was assessed by accelerated aging at ≥ 67 °C with a 1.5-year equivalent endpoint using electrode impedance and microscopy to characterize outcomes. Stimulation stability testing evaluated electrode integrity after 6.3 billion pulses at 100 Results: All had stable impedances around 2 kΩ at the end of the accelerated soak test, except for three with higher impedances but still below the 70 kΩ failure criteria. All but one electrode survived stimulation stability testing. Optical and electron microscopy largely showed little to no change during testing, indicating no observable tip degradation, with the exception of one soak-test device. Conclusions: The outcomes from the studies indicate that ANI electrodes exhibit a high degree of integrity and impedance stability. Microscopy characterization proved effective for evaluating electrodes, providing complementary information to standard BSEM. This study suggests the ANI device tolerate a 1.5 year in-dwelling period for a 1 year perceptual study of stimulation evoked percepts, paving the way for clinical translation.

Indexed as

AuditorydegradationimplantinterfacelifetimeMEMSmicroelectrodeneuralUSA

Identifiers

PMID42818525
PMCPMC13622836

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.