Piezoelectric sound transducer for implantation in an ear

Bimorph structures are a standard method for transforming the high force of  piezoelectric  materials into a large deflection. Implantable  hearing aids mechanically stimulate different  parts of the middle ear with the help of  miniaturized electromechanical actuators. One   possible location to place the actuator is the round-window  membrane in the cochlea, which  has a  diameter in the range of 1 to 2 mm. To realize this engineering problem, an arrangement similar to the image on the right has been developed. It is a  piezoelectric actuator with a circular outline, in which unimorph cantilevers are arranged from the actuator’s edge to the center.

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