This paper describes an attempt to supplement the experimental approach to improving fenestration by circuit analysis. The fenestrated ear is considered an idealized acoustical system and its equivalent circuit is derived. The circuit consists of an input section (outer ear, middle ear, fenestrae), and seven sections representing the inner ear. These are found to be resonant at frequencies between 100 cps and 10 kc. The problem is simplified by assuming the partition between outer and middle ear to be rigid. The other significant parameters are then combined into a variable series capacitance. The resulting circuit is analyzed numerically (digital computer). Response curves are obtained for volume displacement across the basilar membrane as a function of frequency and distance from the input end, with input capacitance as parameter. The computed results and experimental findings (by Békésy) are similar. The startling result of the investigation is that a lowering of the combined window stiffness by a factor of 30 results, in the model, in a 30 db gain over most of the speech spectrum. This is in sharp contrast to controversial experiments in the 1930's by Hughson and Crowe who tried to improve fenestration by increasing the stiffness of the round window.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.