A directionally-sensitive device for detecting and processing vibration
waves includes an array of polymeric optical waveguide resonators
positioned between a light source, such as an LED array, and a light
detector, such as a photodiode array. The resonators which are preferably
oriented substantially perpendicularly with respect to incoming vibration
waves, vibrate when a wave is detected, thus modulating light signals
that are transmitted between the light source and the light detector. The
light detector converts the modulated light into electrical signals
which, in a preferred embodiment, are used to drive either the speaker of
a hearing aid or the electrode array of a cochlear implant. The device is
manufactured using a combination of traditional semiconductor processes
and polymer microfabrication techniques.