Human otopathology without invading the cochlea imaged using optical coherence tomography and verified with novel histological technique

The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders awarded the President and Fellows of Harvard College $149,636 on September 30, 2025, under the Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders program (CFDA 93.173) to support optical coherence tomography imaging of fresh human cochlear anatomy and pathology without invading the cochlea.

The award funds research to determine the natural structural anatomy of human cochleae and their functional mechanical motion in situ using optical coherence tomography (OCT) and vibrometry on unfixed and fresh cadaveric specimens. This non-invasive imaging approach will establish the fresh natural state of cochlear structures and measure their motion, advancing understanding of human cochlear anatomy beyond what processed histological methods currently provide. The research will be verified using novel histological techniques.

Work is performed in Boston, Massachusetts, with performance scheduled through April 30, 2028. This is a Project Grant, a standard NIH research grant mechanism supporting investigator-initiated biomedical research conducted by eligible academic and research institutions.

Abstract

The human cochlea is encapsulated and mostly embedded in bone. Within the cochlea, complex architecture of delicate microstructures function to transduce sound vibrations into neuronal signals. Difficult access and internal fragility have limited our knowledge of the natural anatomy of the human cochlea. Thus, much of our understanding of human cochlear anatomy comes from processed histology. With this proposal, we will determine the fresh natural structural anatomy of human cochleae and its functional mechanical motion in situ from unfixed and fresh cadaveric specimens with the use of optical coherence tomography (OCT), which can image and measure the motion of fresh human cochlear structures in their natural state without invading the cochlea. Here, we propose a coordinated study of human cochlear anatomy and pathology based on OCT imaging and vibrometry of fresh (