Inaccuracies of deterministic finite-element models of human middle ear revealed by stochastic modelling

Inaccuracies of deterministic finite-element models of human middle ear revealed by stochastic modelling

Blog Article

Abstract For over 40 years, finite-element Custom Product models of the mechanics of the middle ear have been mostly deterministic in nature.Deterministic models do not take into account the effects of inter-individual variabilities on middle-ear parameters.We present a stochastic finite-element model of the human middle ear that uses variability in the model parameters to investigate the uncertainty in the model outputs (umbo, stapes, and tympanic-membrane displacements).We demonstrate: (1) uncertainties in the model parameters can be magnified by more than three times in the umbo and stapes footplate responses at frequencies above 2 kHz; (2) middle-ear models are biased and they distort the output distributions; and (3) with increased frequency, the highly-uncertain regions spatially spread out on the tympanic membrane surface.Our results assert 5 Piece Dining Room that we should be mindful when using deterministic finite-element middle-ear models for critical tasks such as novel device developments and diagnosis.