Biomechanical Modeling of Semicircular Canals for Fabricating a Biomimetic Vestibular System

This paper presents a biomechanical model of the semicircular canals of the human vestibular system and the design of a 3D biomimetic structure that mimics the biological system. Starting from anatomical and physiological data, mechanical and structural parameters have been identified and a mathematical model has been formulated, by considering the semicircular organ as a canal filled by a liquid. The mathematical and mechanical models were used to simulate the behavior of the semicircular canals under known conditions of angular velocity and acceleration along three axes. Furthermore, the membrane inside the semicircular canals was simulated to understand what the mechanical properties of the membrane are and if polymeric materials can reproduce the mechanical characteristics of the biological organ. The results obtained from the model allow to design a biomimetic organ, as a part of a biomimetic vestibular system, by following this biomechatronic approach

[1]  Howard A Stone,et al.  A mathematical model for top-shelf vertigo: the role of sedimenting otoconia in BPPV. , 2003, Journal of biomechanics.

[2]  A. Berthoz,et al.  Contribution of the otoliths to the calculation of linear displacement. , 1989, Journal of neurophysiology.

[3]  A. Berthoz,et al.  Multisensory integration in spatial orientation , 1999, Current Opinion in Neurobiology.

[4]  Paolo Dario,et al.  Design and development of a biologically-inspired artificial vestibular system for robot heads , 2004, 2004 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) (IEEE Cat. No.04CH37566).

[5]  J. Rothwell.  Principles of Neural Science , 1982 .

[6]  D. Merfeld,et al.  Prototype Neural Semicircular Canal Prosthesis using Patterned Electrical Stimulation , 2000, Annals of Biomedical Engineering.

[7]  T Haslwanter,et al.  Three-dimensional vector analysis of the human vestibuloocular reflex in response to high-acceleration head rotations. I. Responses in normal subjects. , 1996, Journal of neurophysiology.

[8]  Stefan Schaal,et al.  Biomimetic gaze stabilization based on feedback-error-learning with nonparametric regression networks , 2001, Neural Networks.

[9]  A. Berthoz,et al.  Rapid Spatial Reorientation and Head Direction Cells , 2003, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[10]  Yangsheng Xu,et al.  Gyroscopically Stabilized Robot: Balance and Tracking , 2004, ArXiv.

[11]  Y. K. Liu,et al.  The fluid mechanics of the semicircular canals , 1976, Journal of Fluid Mechanics.

[12]  T. Squires.  Optimizing the vertebrate vestibular semicircular canal: could we balance any better? , 2004, Physical review letters.

[13]  Daniel M. Merfeld,et al.  System design and performance of a unilateral horizontal semicircular canal prosthesis , 2002, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[14]  Jefferson E. Roy,et al.  Signal Processing in Vestibular Nuclei: Dissociating Sensory, Motor, and Cognitive Influences , 2003 .

[15]  Thom Gunn,et al.  The sense of movement , 1957 .

[16]  Thomas Rosemeier,et al.  Interaction of vestibular, somatosensory and visual signals for postural control and motion perception under terrestrial and microgravity conditions—a conceptual model , 1998, Brain Research Reviews.

[17]  A. Berthoz,et al.  Differential effects of labyrinthine dysfunction on distance and direction during blindfolded walking of a triangular path , 2002, Experimental Brain Research.