Effect of pneumatization degree of temporal bone air cell on vascular pulsatile tinnitus

To quantify the biomechanic relationship between the degree of pneumatization in the temporal bone air cell and vascular pulsatile tinnitus, the numerical simulation upon a typical vascular pulsatile tinnitus patient's data were conducted in this study. First, the two 3D geometric models of temporal bone air cell, including the basic model and the over-pneumatization model, were developed based on the same patient's CT images individually. Second, the models were meshed with tetrahedral elements by Hypermesh, and computed 3D finite element (FE) models were generated. Then two FE models were imported into Virtual. Lab Acoustics. Third, the same velocity boundary condition was loaded, and then the sound intensity of vibration response was achieved by Virtual. Lab Acoustics. Finally, the sound intensity amplitude at the vestibule was computed. A comparative analysis of two models was done based on the biomechanical numerical simulations. It was shown that the sound intensity amplitude of the over-pneumatization model was 3.02 dB lower than the basic one at 250 Hz. It was found that the difference of amplitude between two models could be perceived by vascular pulsatile tinnitus patient under the condition of same frequency. These would provide a new theoretical basis for innovative treatment of vascular pulsatile tinnitus.