A model for cochlear outer hair cell deformations in micropipette aspiration experiments: an analytical solution.

Abstract

We propose a mathematical model to describe the deformations of the cochlear outer hair cell (OHC) in the micropipette aspiration experiments. The bending effect is considered, and the OHC is treated as a cylindrical shell. The pipette effect is modeled by two-dimensional normal loading. Considering the OHC wall as an infinitely long cylinder, we obtain solution in terms of Fourier series with respect to the circumferential coordinate where coefficients are expressed by closed formulae. We keep leading terms in Fourier series and derive a closed formula for the length of tongue of the aspirated cell surface in terms of pipette pressure, cell geometry, and elastic moduli. To demonstrate application of the theory, we use data recently reported from the micropipette aspiration experiments and obtain an estimate of the elastic shear modulus for the OHC lateral wall.