The Acute Effect of Ultrasonic Irradiation Upon Ampullar Sensory Epithelia of the Guinea Pig

Abstract

Acute experimentation with ultrasonic irradiation of the guinea pig labyrinth indicates that the physical effect of the ultrasonic irradiation such as agitation, cavitation and streaming are the prime factors in explaining damage to the sensory cells with ruptured cytoplasmic membranes, disappearance of ribosomes and mitochondria and formation of intracytoplasmic vacuoles which were found even one or two minutes after treatment. The basic pattern of degeneration is the same, whether the perilymphatic space is open or not. The thinner the bony shell remaining the shorter the exposure which can be used to achieve the same degree of destruction, thus minimizing heat transfer to the surrounding tissues. In the present acute experiments no cochlear damage was observed.