Soft Tissue Conduction: Review Mechanisms andImplications

摘要

Soft tissue conduction (STC) is a recently explored mode of auditory stimulation,complementing air (AC) and bone (BC) conduction stimulation. STC can be definedas the hearing induced when vibratory stimuli reach skin and soft tissue sitesnot directly overlying skull bone such as the head, neck, thorax, and body.Examples of STC include the delivery of vibrations to the skin of parts of thebody by a clinical bone vibrator, hearing underwater sounds and free field airsounds, while AC hearing is attenuated by earplugs. The vibrations induced inthe soft tissues are apparently transmitted along soft tissues, reaching, andexciting the ear. Further research is required to determine whether themechanism of the final stage of STC hearing involves the excitation of the earby eliciting inner ear fluid pressures that activate the hair cells directly, bythe induction of skull bone vibrations, or by a combination of both mechanisms,depending on the magnitude of each mechanism.