ON SIOMA THEMATICS OF ENDOL YMPH

Abstract

Knowledge of the mechanics of the semicircular canals has already been useful in helping aerospace planners avoid situations which might • prove discomforting lo the astronaut. This is an adequate reason alone for wishing to study the mechanics of the canals, but a further incentive comes from the fact that a full understanding of the mechanics of healthy canals may contribute to the development of methods of diagnosis and.treatment of canals in diseased state. The primary objective of these investigations is to study these phenomena mathmatically and to develop an improved analytical model for the fluid dynamic response of the semicircular canals and Otolith organs. The thesis consists of six chapters and a list of references. The first chapter is an introductory one. It exhibits the anatomy and physiology of the inner ear and also a brief summary ofMeniere's disease, fractional calculus and flow in curved pipe. In the second chapter, an exact solution for the Endolymph equation has been obtained. The problem is analyzed using the constitutive application of the Laplace and finite Hankel transformation. It has been proved that the previous work of [Van Buskirk et al. 1987] is a special case of the results we have obtained. Chapter three presents the response of the semicircular canal to several changes in skull veolcity. The mathematical modeling of cupula using fractional calculus has been used to represent the response of the semicircular canal. In chapter four the mathematical modeling of Otolith-Organs has been investigated. They were modeled mathematically as a three-element system consisting