Taking a Picture of Hair Cells / Ear Damage

Is it possible to get a picture taken of your inner ear hair cells? would be good to know if there is any damage or how severe it is

 

Not sure about the picture, but Ive read about electrocochleography which has the ability to measure electrical potentials of the inner ear.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrocochleography

I do believe I have read that its possible to have images taken of the cilia inisde the cochlea without slicing it up under a microscope

But I think everyone will probably have some missing hairs to some extent, and from what I understand its a natural aging process

 

There's a thread on here with a black and white image showing what happens when the ear is damaged, can anyone remind me what it is, please? I've been looking for it for ages now

 

Just type
"Damaged hair cells"
In Google images search

 

Here you go:

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/outdoor-concert-tinnitus.5059/

 

Thanks both. I was actually refering to another picture, but I'm sure that is the same thing.

Can I ask you a question about that picture? If someones ears looked mostly like the first photo, with healthy stereocilia and just one or two missing, what would that mean, if anything? I know it's a daft question

 

Or would someone with Hyperacusis be missing lots of stereocilia, and missing one or two would mean they didn't have Hyperacusis?

 

It is a good question, but probably does not matter since I am pretty sure that there is no way to get a image of your hair cells unless you're no longer living.

 

This video gives detailed visual information about cochlea and inner hair cells.

The Human Cochlea

 

This one is also great:

Ear Organ of Corti (Full Version)

 

After watching the second video, I am even scared to touch my ears now

 

Just assume you could have an image?

 

It would be pretty handy to have, but i guess it's not possible.

 

It sounds daft, but sometimes I have dreams that are prophetic or show me how to resolve a problem. Well, I had a dream that showed an image of, I think, stereocilia, as I'd never seen an image of that before my dream or even heard of it. In my dream I think it showed me that I perhaps had one or two shorter/damaged/missing/whatever the term is stereocilia, so that's why I asked, as it may shed some light on my situation. So, nobody has any thoughts on what one or two damaged stereocilia would indicate?

 

http://www.sickkids.ca/Research/Auditory-science-laboratory/Hearing-loss/

there are very interesting examples of damaged cochlea, very different than just broken hair cells.

 

ahh man...that is depressing. So much detail...so small so inside...ahhh.

 

DPOAE test will show you hair cell strength.