Abstract
In order to keep track of the position and motion of our body in space, nature has given us a fascinating and very ingenious organ, the inner ear. Each inner ear includes five biological sensors—three angular and two linear accelerometers—which provide the body with the ability to sense angular and linear motion of the head with respect to inertial space. The aim of this paper is to present a dynamic virtual reality model of these sensors. This model, implemented in MATLAB/Simulink, simulates the rotary chair testing which is one of the tests carried out during a diagnosis of the vestibular system. High-quality 3D animations linked to the Simulink model are created using the export of CAD models into Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) files. This virtual environment shows not only the test but also the state of each sensor (excited or inhibited) in real time. Virtual reality is used as a tool of integrated learning of the dynamic behavior of the inner ear using ergonomic paradigm of user interactivity (zoom, rotation, mouse interaction, etc.). It can be used as a learning and demonstrating tool either in the medicine field—to understand the behavior of the sensors during any kind of motion—or in the aeronautical field to relate the inner ear functioning to some sensory illusions.
Highlights
The vestibular apparatus is located in the inner ear and is vital for our dynamic equilibrium
This is the reason why several authors have studied the mechanics of the semicircular canals which detect changes in angular acceleration, and the otolith organs which are known to sense changes in linear acceleration and gravity
The vestibular system is located within the temporal region of the skull and consists of two specialized types of sensory systems: the semicircular canals—which respond to angular acceleration, and two otolith organs—which primarily detect changes in linear acceleration and gravity (Roman [14], Sauvage [15])
Summary
The vestibular apparatus is located in the inner ear and is vital for our dynamic equilibrium. A full understanding of the mechanics of a healthy inner ear may contribute to the diagnosis and treatment of the vestibular part in a diseased state This is the reason why several authors have studied the mechanics of the semicircular canals which detect changes in angular acceleration, and the otolith organs (the utricle and saccule) which are known to sense changes in linear acceleration and gravity. The scope of this paper is to design a dynamic virtual reality model, which simulates the inner ear sensory system This numerical model takes into account the angular sensors (semicircular canals) and the linear sensors (otolith organs). Simulation using virtual reality tools affords flexible and versatile tools to improve learning, data gathering, and analysis This model simulates the rotary chair test which is one of the procedures usually performed by specialists during a diagnosis of the vestibular system; this will be explained indepth later in this paper. These data, which constitute the inputs of the virtual scene, are transferred to the virtual model
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