Low Noise CMOS Simulation of Outer Hair Cell Activity in the Mammalian CochleaKaren Juzswik, Robert Littrell, Edward TangAbstractThis project attempts to simulate the active processes in the mammalian cochlea. The cochlea outperforms many current acoustic sensing technologies; it has a bandwidth of 20Hz to 20kHz, a 120 dB dynamic range, separates frequencies into approximately 3500 channels, and is capable of sensing sound pressure levels as low as 0 dB on an A weighted scale. Our goal is to design a circuit to simulate outer hair cell activity within the cochlea. This circuit will interface with a micro-machined cochlear analog transducer (uCAT). The circuit will be implemented in three stages. A sensor stage will amplify signals from a piezoelectric beam attached to the basilar membrane of the transducer. A control stage will interpret the signal from the sensing stage and provide feedback to the actuation stage. An actuation stage will drive the piezoelectric beams from the control signal to complete the physical feedback loop, mimicking the actual mammalian cochlea. References
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