{"id":910,"date":"2018-08-31T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-08-30T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/nano-eardrums-fight-chronic-otitis-media\/910\/"},"modified":"2018-08-31T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-08-30T23:00:00","slug":"nano-eardrums-fight-chronic-otitis-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/nano-eardrums-fight-chronic-otitis-media\/910\/","title":{"rendered":"Nano-engineered eardrums will fight chronic otitis media"},"content":{"rendered":"

An optimal eardrum reconstruction following otitis-related large perforations still represents a clinical challenge, which can be faced on the nanoscale<\/h2>\n

The ear is one of our sensory organs, devoted to hearing. It consists of three compartments: outer (for collection), middle (for conduction) and inner (for conversion of sound waves into electric signals). In the inner part, proper sensory function takes place, whereas our brain elaborates the electric signals carried by neurons into the hearing sense. These three compartments work serially with increased complexity.<\/p>\n

However, everything starts at the eardrum, or tympanic membrane (TM) \u2013 a thin, flexible and tough membrane, separating the external from the middle ear compartment. Indeed, TM is the prime functional tissue devoted to the collection and transmission of sound waves, by leading the mechanical sound conduction process which occurs through a vibratory motion with displacements on the nanoscale level.<\/p>\n

TM is provided by nature with unique anatomic nanoscale features that, ultimately, allow a superb physiologic performance in varying frequency ranges (20-20.000 Hz in human beings). Awesomely, the eardrum works as a high-fidelity sound transmitter, usable for transient recognition in a way that is still poorly understood by scientists.<\/p>\n

Disease and failure<\/h3>\n

Several pathologies damage this tissue and cause conductive hearing loss (CHL), such as:<\/p>\n