Patent ID: 8876689

Claim:
A therapeutic appliance configured for insertion into a cylindrically-shaped fenestration that pierces a wall of a cochlea of a subject, the therapeutic appliance comprising: a cylindrically shaped outer barrel having an outer cylindrical surface configured to be disposed at a distal end of the wall of the cochlea and configured to be inserted into and firmly fixed in a corresponding outer portion of the cylindrically-shaped fenestration, the outer barrel having an outer diameter dimension along a longitudinal axis, the outer surface of the outer barrel configured to be in contact with the distal end of the fenestration in the wall of the cochlea; and a cylindrically shaped inner barrel having an outer cylindrical surface configured to be disposed at a proximal end of the wall of the cochlea closest to the scala tympani region of the cochlea and opposite to the distal end, the inner barrel coupled to the outer barrel and extending away from the outer barrel along the longitudinal axis toward the proximal end, the inner barrel having an inner barrel diameter dimension about the longitudinal axis, wherein the inner barrel diameter dimension is smaller than the outer barrel diameter dimension, the inner barrel configured to be inserted into and to be firmly fixed in a corresponding inner portion of the fenestration adjacent to the outer portion of the fenestration, the outer surface of the inner barrel configured to be in contact with the proximal end of the fenestration in the wall of the cochlea, wherein a sleeve is positioned between the fenestration and the therapeutic appliance such that the inner barrel is in contact with a first circular area of the sleeve having a first sleeve diameter dimension corresponding to the inner barrel diameter dimension and the outer barrel is in contact with a second circular area of the sleeve having a second sleeve diameter dimension corresponding with the outer barrel diameter dimension.