Question:medium
Cochlear implant given below, identify the marked structure:
Cochlear implant given below, identify the marked structure:
Show Hint
Which single component is actually threaded inside the cochlea to deliver current? That coiled intracochlear wire is the answer.
Updated On: Jun 22, 2026
- Internal magnet
- Electrode
- Receiver
- Antenna
Show Solution
The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
Start by recalling the anatomy of where each part lives. Think of a cochlear implant in two halves: the bits worn on the outside of the head (microphone, processor, and the transmitting coil/antenna held on by a magnet) and the bits surgically buried (the receiver-stimulator package and the electrode array).
Localise the marked structure. The arrow in the figure points to a long, fine, coiled wire that runs into the snail-shaped cochlea (and on the X-ray you can literally see it curled inside the cochlear turns). Only ONE component is built as a thin flexible coil designed to be inserted into the scala tympani - the electrode array.
Function check confirms it. The job of that intracochlear coil is to deliver tiny electrical currents along its many contacts so that different points of the cochlea (high to low frequency, tonotopically arranged) stimulate the spiral ganglion and cochlear nerve. That is precisely the electrode's role.
Rule out the distractors by location/shape:
- Internal magnet $\rightarrow$ a small round disc that anchors the external coil; not a wire in the cochlea.
- Receiver (receiver-stimulator) $\rightarrow$ the chunky implanted box under the scalp that decodes the radio signal; it never enters the cochlea.
- Antenna (transmitting coil) $\rightarrow$ an external component worn on the skin.
Therefore the structure threaded into the cochlea is the electrode, so the correct option is B.
Localise the marked structure. The arrow in the figure points to a long, fine, coiled wire that runs into the snail-shaped cochlea (and on the X-ray you can literally see it curled inside the cochlear turns). Only ONE component is built as a thin flexible coil designed to be inserted into the scala tympani - the electrode array.
Function check confirms it. The job of that intracochlear coil is to deliver tiny electrical currents along its many contacts so that different points of the cochlea (high to low frequency, tonotopically arranged) stimulate the spiral ganglion and cochlear nerve. That is precisely the electrode's role.
Rule out the distractors by location/shape:
- Internal magnet $\rightarrow$ a small round disc that anchors the external coil; not a wire in the cochlea.
- Receiver (receiver-stimulator) $\rightarrow$ the chunky implanted box under the scalp that decodes the radio signal; it never enters the cochlea.
- Antenna (transmitting coil) $\rightarrow$ an external component worn on the skin.
Therefore the structure threaded into the cochlea is the electrode, so the correct option is B.
Was this answer helpful?
0
