Hearing diagnosis using spectrally encoded interferometry

The wide frequency range of the human hearing could be hampered by various pathologies in the middle ear and tympanic membrane, leading to conductive hearing loss (CHL). Diagnosing such hearing problems is challenging, however, and often rely on subjective hearing tests supported by conventional tympanometry.

While effective functional imaging of the sound transmission chain, from the tympanic membrane and into the inner ear, would greatly improve the diagnosis and treatment of CHL; yet imaging within the human ear is an extremely challenging task, mainly because of the minute anatomic structures, and the nanometer-scale movements in response to sound.

We have recently presented a novel method for noninvasive in vivo functional imaging of the human tympanic membrane under various acoustic excitations. By combining spectrally encoded imaging with phase-sensitive spectral-domain interferometry, our system attains high-resolution functional imaging of the two-dimensional membrane surface using a handheld imaging probe, and within a fraction of a second.

The detailed physiological data acquired by the system would allow measuring a wide range of clinically relevant parameters, and provide a powerful new tool for studying the middle ear physiology.

References:

  1. “Phase-sensitive imaging of tissue acoustic vibrations using spectrally encoded interferometry”, O. Ilgayev, and D. Yelin, Opt. Express 21, 19681 (2013).
  2. “Imaging acoustic vibrations in an ear model using spectrally encoded interferometry”, S. Grechin and D. Yelin, Opt. Communications 407, 175 (2018).
  3. “Rapid imaging of tympanic membrane vibrations in humans”, M. Hamra, S. Shinnawi, M. Cohen Vaizer, and D. Yelin, Biomed. Opt. Express 11, 6470 (2020).
  4. “In vivo optical mapping of the tympanic membrane impulse response”, M. Hamra, L. Fridman, S. Shinnawi, M. C. Vaizer and D. Yelin, Hearing Research. 431, 108723 (2023).
  5. “Visualizing the acoustic reflex on the tympanic membrane”, M. Hamra, S. Shinnawi, M. C. Vaizer and D. Yelin, Audiol. DOI: 10.1159/000538703 (2024).