Department of Biomedical Engineering
McGill University
Supervisor: Dr. R. Funnell
Recently smooth-muscle tissue has been observed in the annular ligament of the moustached bat, Pteronotus parnellii. In order to lead to improved understanding of the function of this highly developed smooth-muscle system surrounding the tympanic membrane, a finite-element model was developed. The complex geometry of the middle ear was defined using both magnetic-resonance microscopy and histological data. Contributions were made to the locally written software which was used for image segmentation and finite-element mesh generation. The action of the smooth-muscle fibres is modelled by applying a radial load to the model of the tympanic membrane. The radial load is represented by placing load vectors tangential to the model of the tympanic membrane. Simulations were carried out in order to investigate convergence, sensitivity to tympanic-membrane shape, and to evaluate the effects of pressure and radial loads.