N2 - This paper presents a new model that describes the physical phenomena occurring in an individual Outer Hair Cell (OHC) in the human hearing organ (Cochlea). The new model employs the concept of parametric amplification and piezoelectricity. As a consequence, the proposed model may explain in a natural way many as yet unresolved problems about the mechanisms of: 1) power amplification, 2) non- linearity, 3) fine tuning, or 4) high sensitivity that take place in the human hearing organ. Mathematical analysis of the model is performed. The equivalent electrical circuits of an individual OHC are established. The high selectivity of the OHC parametric amplifier is analyzed by solving the resulting Mathieu and Ince differential equations. An analytical formula for the power gain in the OHC’s parametric amplifier has been developed. The proposed model has direct physical interpretation and all its elements have their physical counterparts in the actual structure of the cochlea. The numerical values of the individual elements of the electrical equivalent circuits are consistent with the experimental physiological data. It is anticipated that the proposed new model may contribute in future improvements of human cochlear implants as well as in development of new digital audio standards. L1 - http://www.czasopisma.pan.pl/Content/101505/PDF/10-paper.pdf L2 - http://www.czasopisma.pan.pl/Content/101505 PY - 2013 IS - No 1 EP - 92 DO - 10.2478/aoa-2013-0010 KW - piezoelectricity KW - parametric amplification KW - mechanism of hearing KW - electroacoustic transducers A1 - Kiełczyński, Piotr PB - Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Fundamental Technological Research, Committee on Acoustics VL - vol. 38 DA - 2013 T1 - Power Amplification and Selectivity in the Cochlear Amplifier SP - 83 UR - http://www.czasopisma.pan.pl/dlibra/publication/edition/101505 T2 - Archives of Acoustics