A model for long-term intracochlear administration of pharmacologic agents.

A technique is described that provides a method to study the effects of intracochlear pharmacologic agents on the degenerating auditory nerve. The model involves implanting a guinea pig with an osmotic minipump that allows slow perfusion of the cochlea over a period of hours to days with up to two water soluble substances. Neomycin and horseradish peroxidase, whose histopathologic effects on the cochlea are well known, are used in the present study to validate the efficacy of the system.