title: Optoelectronic holographic otoscope for measurement of nano-displacements in tympanic membranes.
abstract: Current methodologies for characterizing tympanic membrane (TM) motion are usually limited to either average acoustic estimates (admittance or reflectance) or single-point mobility measurements, neither of which suffices to characterize the detailed mechanical response of the TM to sound. Furthermore, while acoustic and single-point measurements may aid in diagnosing some middle-ear disorders, they are not always useful. Measurements of the motion of the entire TM surface can provide more information than these other techniques and may be superior for diagnosing pathology. We present advances in our development of a new compact optoelectronic holographic otoscope (OEHO) system for full field-of-view characterization of nanometer-scale sound-induced displacements of the TM surface at video rates. The OEHO system consists of a fiber optic subsystem, a compact otoscope head, and a high-speed image processing computer with advanced software for recording and processing holographic images coupled to a computer-controlled sound-stimulation and recording system. A prototype OEHO system is in use in a medical research environment to address basic science questions regarding TM function. The prototype provides real-time observation of sound-induced TM displacement patterns over a broad frequency range. Representative time-averaged and stroboscopic holographic interferometry results in animals and human cadaver samples are shown, and their potential utility is discussed.
authors: Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Center for Holographic Studies and Laser micro-mechaTronics, Worcester, Massachusetts 21202, USA. mhernandez@cio.mx
authors: Maria
authors: M
authors: Del Socorro Hernández-Montes
authors: Cosme
authors: C
authors: Furlong
authors: John J
authors: JJ
authors: Rosowski
authors: Nesim
authors: N
authors: Hulli
authors: Ellery
authors: E
authors: Harrington
authors: Jeffrey Tao
authors: JT
authors: Cheng
authors: Michael E
authors: ME
authors: Ravicz
authors: Fernando Mendoza
authors: FM
authors: Santoyo
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics; D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D002682:Chinchilla; D004582:Electronics, Medical / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D004867:Equipment Design; D006696:Holography / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007368:Interferometry / Q000379:methods; D019720:Otoscopes; D012984:Software; D049489:Stroboscopy; D014432:Tympanic Membrane / Q000502:physiology*; D014732:Vibration