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    University - Student Department: School of Medicine Position: Graduate, Medicine

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  • Dexamethasone-eluting cochlear implants reduce inflammation and foreign body response in human and murine cochleae SCIENTIFIC REPORTS Rahman, M., Mostaert, B. J., Eckard, P., Fatima, S., Scheperle, R., Razu, I., Hunger, B., Olszewski, R. T., Gu, S., Garcia, C. L., Khan, N., Bennion, D. M., Oleson, J., Kirk, J. R., Enke, Y., Gay, R. D., Morell, R. J., Hirose, K., Hoa, M., Claussen, A. D., Hansen, M. R. 2025; 15 (1): 30615

    Abstract

    The inflammatory foreign body response (FBR) following cochlear implantation (CI) can negatively impact CI outcomes, including increased electrode impedances. This study aims to investigate the long-term efficacy of dexamethasone-eluting cochlear implant and locally delivered dexamethasone, a potent anti-inflammatory glucocorticoid, on the intracochlear FBR and electrical impedance post-implantation in a murine model. Preliminary impedance data in humans are also provided as a complement to the murine data to illustrate generalizability and reinforce implications related to clinical application. The left ears of CX3CR1+/GFP Thy1+/YFP (macrophage-neuron dual reporter) mice were implanted with dexamethasone-eluting cochlear implants (Dex-CI) or standard implant (Standard-CI) while the right ear served as unoperated control. Another group of dual reporter mice was implanted with a standard CI electrode array followed by injection of dexamethasone in the middle ear to mimic current clinical practice (Dex-local). Mouse implants were electrically stimulated with serial measurements of electrical impedance. Human subjects were implanted with either standard or Dex-CI followed by serial impedance measurements. Dex-CI reduced electrical impedance in the murine model and human subjects and inflammatory FBR in the murine model for an extended period. Dex-local in the murine model is ineffective for long-term reduction of FBR and electrode impedance. Our data suggests that dexamethasone-eluting arrays are more effective than the current clinical practice of locally applied dexamethasone in reducing FBR and electrical impedance.

    View details for DOI 10.1038/s41598-025-10739-y

    View details for Web of Science ID 001555094800039

    View details for PubMedID 40836064

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC12368128

  • Protocol for supervised automation of cell counting in confocal microscopic mice cochlear imaging datasets using macro in Imaris STAR PROTOCOLS Rahman, M., Khan, N., Razu, I., Mokbul, M., Fatima, S., Garcia, C. L., Eckard, P., Hansen, M. R. 2025; 6 (2): 103815

    Abstract

    Analyzing confocal microscopic data using Imaris is time-consuming and prone to human error. We present a supervised automation protocol to reduce manual input for cell and spot counting in confocal images of mouse cochlear sections. The protocol includes installing Imaris; preparing confocal images for Imaris; applying the image recognition tool in Macro Scheduler to create surfaces, masks, and spots; and using batch processing to analyze groups of images efficiently. This approach improves accuracy, reproducibility, and customization for research needs.

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.xpro.2025.103815

    View details for Web of Science ID 001493918600002

    View details for PubMedID 40381200

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC12145762