Figure 1.

Mouse multichannel cochlear implant. Three half-band platinum/iridium electrodes (~ 0.25 mm) mounted on a silastic carrier (see diagram) served as the intracochlear stimulating/recording electrodes. These three-electrode arrays were purchased from Cochlear®. The large ball electrode (~ 0.8 mm diameter), made in house, served as the ground electrode for stimulation and recording. The intracochlear electrodes were labeled 1 through 3, with 1 being the most apically inserted electrode and the primary electrode used for centering the histology sections. The electrodes were hard-wired to a four-contact percutaneous connector (Samtec) that was mounted on the animal’s skull.