Inner hair cell stimulation model for the use by an intra-cochlear implant

1. A method of generating a cochlear stimulation signal, the method comprising:

detecting an onset time corresponding to an onset of a sound in an acoustic signal associated with a frequency band;

determining a forcing voltage and a transmitting factor, wherein the forcing voltage and the transmitting factor are associated with the frequency band at the detected onset time; and

modulating the acoustic signal by a modulation factor comprising a product of the forcing voltage and the transmitting factor to generate an output signal.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein modulating the acoustic signal comprises modulating the frequency of the acoustic signal.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising generating the output signal in accordance with a Frequency Modulated Stimulation strategy.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein modulating the acoustic signal comprises modulating the amplitude of the acoustic signal.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising generating the output signal in accordance with one of a Continuous Interleaved Stimulation strategy, a Simultaneous Analog Stimulation strategy, or a high-resolution (HiRes) strategy.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein modulating the acoustic signal comprises modulating the frequency of the acoustic signal and the amplitude of the acoustic signal.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein modulating the acoustic signal further comprises modulating the acoustic signal as a function of a modulation constant.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the generated output signal decays at a variable rate.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the generated output signal comprises an acoustic signal.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

mapping the generated output signal to an electrical signal; and

applying the electrical signal to one or more electrode pairs of a cochlear implant.

11. An apparatus for generating a cochlear stimulation signal, the apparatus comprising:

a detector configured to detect an onset time corresponding to an onset of a sound in an acoustic signal associated with a frequency band; and

circuitry configured to determine a forcing voltage for forcing vesicle release in a cochlear inner hair cell and a transmitting factor, wherein the forcing voltage and the transmitting factor are associated with the frequency band at the detected onset time, and to modulate the acoustic signal as a function of the forcing voltage and the transmitting factor to generate an output signal.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the circuitry is configured to modulate the frequency of the acoustic signal.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the circuitry is configured to generate the output signal in accordance with a Frequency Modulated Stimulation strategy.

14. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the circuitry is configured to modulate the amplitude of the acoustic signal.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the circuitry is configured to generate the output signal in accordance with one of a Continuous Interleaved Stimulation strategy, a Simultaneous Analog Stimulation strategy, or a high-resolution (HiRes) strategy.

16. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the circuitry is configured to modulate the frequency of the acoustic signal and the amplitude of the acoustic signal.

17. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to modulate the acoustic signal as a function of a modulation constant.

18. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the generated output signal decays at a variable rate.

19. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the generated output signal comprises an acoustic signal.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to:

map the generated output signal to an electrical signal; and apply the electrical signal to one or more electrode pairs of a cochlear implant.

21. A method of generating a cochlear stimulation signal, the method comprising:

detecting a time corresponding to a sound in an acoustic signal;

modeling a neural response to the sound in the acoustic signal at the detected time,

wherein the modeling comprises estimation of a number of vesicles in an intermediate store of a cochlear inner hair cell; and

generating an output signal by modulating the acoustic signal as a function of the modeled neural response.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein modeling a neural response comprises:

determining a forcing voltage as a function of an amplitude associated with the acoustic signal at the detected time; and

determining a transmitting factor as a function of a quantity of neurotransmitter available at the detected time.

23. The method of claim 21 , wherein modulating the acoustic signal comprises modulating one or more of the frequency of the acoustic signal and the amplitude of the acoustic signal.

24. The method of claim 21 , wherein modulating the acoustic signal comprises modulating the acoustic signal as a function of a modulation constant.

25. The method of claim 21 , wherein the generated output signal decays at a variable rate.

26. The method of claim 21 , wherein the generated output signal comprises an acoustic signal.

27. The method of claim 26 , further comprising:

mapping the generated output signal to an electrical signal; and

applying the electrical signal to one or more electrode pairs of a cochlear implant.