Patent ID: 8620459

Claim:
An implantable electrode array comprising a carrier that is insertable into a cochlea of an implantee, the carrier having a proximal end and a distal end and comprising: a first layer of a resiliently flexible material and having a first surface; at least a second layer of a resiliently flexible material having a second surface that at least partially overlies and contacts the first surface of the first layer and distinctly separates the second layer from the first layer, wherein a portion of said second surface of the second layer overlying said first surface of the first layer has a shape conforming to a shape of a portion of said first surface that it overlies; and a plurality of electrodes supported within the carrier at respective spaced locations in a region between the proximal end and the distal end of the carrier, at least one of the electrodes being in direct contact with the first layer; wherein the carrier is formed in a second configuration in which the array can apply tissue stimulation to the cochlea and is manipulable to a first configuration that allows the carrier to be insertable into the cochlea of an implantee.