Investigation of the human tympanic membrane oscillation ex vivo by Doppler optical coherence tomography

Abstract

Investigations of the tympanic membrane (TM) can have an important impact on understanding the sound conduction in the ear and can therefore support the diagnosis and treatment of diseases in the middle ear. High-speed Doppler optical coherence tomography (OCT) has the potential to describe the oscillatory behaviour of the TM surface in a phase-sensitive manner and additionally allows acquiring a three-dimensional image of the underlying structure. With repeated sound stimuli from 0.4 kHz to 6.4 kHz, the whole TM can be set in vibration and the spatially resolved frequency response functions (FRFs) of the tympanic membrane can be recorded. Typical points, such as the umbo or the manubrium of malleus, can be studied separately as well as the TM surface with all stationary and wave-like vibrations. Thus, the OCT methodology can be a promising technique to distinguish between normal and pathological TMs and support the differentiation between ossicular and membrane diseases.

Modern trends in biophotonics for clinical diagnosis and therapy to solve unmet clinical needs

“…High‐speed Doppler OCT has the potential to describe the oscillatory behavior of the surface of tympanic membrane (TM) in the ear in a phase‐sensitive manner and additionally allowed acquiring a three‐dimensional image of the underlying structure. It was concluded from the experiments that the OCT methodology can be a promising technique to distinguish between normal and pathological TMs and support the differentiation between ossicular and membrane diseases .…”

Panel 2: Anatomy (Eustachian Tube, Middle Ear, and Mastoid—Anatomy, Physiology, Pathophysiology, and Pathogenesis)

“…95,96 This method distinguished normal and pathologic TMs and ossicular versus TM diseases. 97 Investigators have applied phase-sensitive optical coherence tomography in animals 98 and human cadaver models. 99 Good estimates of the normal and pathologic TM, and ossicular chain mechanical properties have been obtained.…”

Functional and morphological imaging of the human tympanic membrane with endoscopic optical coherence tomography

“…In addition, the oscillation of the tympanic membrane was measured spatially resolved using a separate scan pattern [4] at a grid of 25 x 25 points, which covered the entire field of view. At each grid point, 512 consecutive A-scans have been acquired, which corresponds to 10 ms per grid point.…”

“…The transfer function, which was calculated via Fourier transform, gives the oscillation amplitude normalized to the sound pressure. Details on the measurement protocol have been published previously [4].…”

“…OCT has been reported for the visualization of bacterial films behind the tympanic membrane [1] and for the visualization and assessment of effusions in the middle ear [2][3], which is important for the diagnosis of otitis media. Additionally, Doppler-OCT can be utilized for measuring the oscillation of the tympanic membrane during acoustical stimulation [4][5]. This can be useful for the indirect detection of effusions in the tympanic cavity by measuring the attenuated membrane oscillation.…”