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Poroelastic Bulk Properties of the Tectorial Membrane Measured with Osmotic Stress

Harvard-MIT Speech and Hearing Sciences Program, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Eaton-Peabody Laboratory of Auditory Physiology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts

Correspondence: Address reprint requests to D. M. Freeman, Tel.: 617-253-8795; E-mail: freeman{at}mit.edu.

The equilibrium stress-strain relation and the pore radius of the isolated tectorial membrane (TM) of the mouse were determined. Polyethylene glycol (PEG), with molecular mass (MM) in the range 20–511 kDa, added to the TM bathing solution was used to exert an osmotic pressure. Strain on the TM induced by isosmotic PEG solutions of different molecular masses was approximately the same for MM 200 kDa. However, for MM 100 kDa, the TM strain was appreciably smaller. We infer that for the smaller molecular mass, PEG entered the TM and exerted a smaller effective osmotic pressure. The pore radius of the TM was estimated as 22 nm. The equilibrium stress-strain relation of the TM was measured using PEG with a molecular mass of 511 kDa. This relation was nonlinear and was fit with a power function. In the radial cochlear direction, the transverse stiffness of the TM was 20% stiffer in the inner than in the outer region. TM segments from the basal region had a larger transverse stiffness on average compared to sections from the apical-middle region. These measurements provide a quantitative basis for a poroelastic model of the TM.

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