Our group is investigating drugs and drug delivery vehicles for the treatment of inner ear diseases such as hearing loss. The round window membrane is the critical barrier that prevents locally applied drugs from getting into the cochlea and we're currently working to understand how nanoparticle delivery vehicles can be engineered to pass through this barrier. Understanding how the round window membrane works in terms of drug transport is crucial in developing effective drug delivery strategies to the ear.

Guinea pig is an important preclinical animal model for studying drug delivery to the ear. However, isolating this fragile membrane, which is only 17 microns thick, for drug transport studies remains a significant challenge. Here, we describe a method for extracting the guinea pig round window membrane that allows for efficient bench top drug transport studies.

Current investigations of drug delivery to the inner year rely primarily on in vivo experimental models followed by perilymph sampling which do not allow for a specific and targeted study of round window membrane transport mechanisms. In this study, we demonstrate the extraction of the guinea pig round window membrane with surrounding bony support. This method preserves native tissue architecture integrity and allows for precise and targeted studies of drug delivery across the round window membrane.