ARUP; ISBN: 978-0-9562121-5-3 - CMBBE 2012 - Cardiff University

Fig. 1 Semicircular canal structure and function 6
A stereocilia projecting from the hair cells are covered by a gelatinous substance in
otoconia. The BPPV is caused by the otoilths coming apart by any reason. That is the
result from abnormal stimulation of the cupola within any of the three semicircular
canals by free-floating otoliths (canalithiasis) or otoliths adhered to the cupula
(cupulolithiasis). A typical symptoms and signs of BPPV are motion sickness and
nystagmus. 4, 5 The three semicircular canals lie at right angles to each other and occupy
three different planes in space. Two of them, the anterior canal and the posterior canal,
stand vertically, whereas the third, the lateral canal, is horizontal. The most common
type of BPPV is caused by the involvement of the posterior semicircular canal (PSC),
but horizontal semicircular canal (HSC) BPPV accounts for approximately 10% to 20%.
PSC-BPPV has a good resolution rate of over 90% on average after proper canalith
repositioning treatment. A HSC benign paroxysmal positional vertigo was first reported
in 1985, after a lot of research on diagnosis and treatment had been reported. Many
ways of treatment method have been reported in clinical trials which show meaningful
good results. However, the success rate is approximately 60%~90%; this value does not
give relief to patient. 3
Fig.2 Canalithiasis and cupulolithiasis in benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. 7
In this work, the computational simulation has been carried out for Benign Paroxysmal
Positional Vertigo (BPPV) disease in semicircular canals of the vestibular apparatus.
The 2-D FSI Model of semicircular canals in BPPV situation has been developed in the
finite element software COMSOL 4.2a and focus is on horizontal semicircular canal
which detects parallel movement.