Sound field estimation near the tympanic membrane using area-distance measurements in the ear canal

Reflection function, reflectance, and area function measurements in ears of children and adults

The main experiment concerned time-domain measurements of the acoustical reflection function (RF) of the human ear in adults and children (aged 5 to 8 years) using a probe inserted into the ear canal. This RF was used to calculate the area function of the ear canal versus distance along its centerline. Acoustical reflectance was calculated in the frequency domain from the RF, as was the difference in sound pressure level near the tympanic membrane relative to the probe tip. Group responses in area function, total ear-canal length, absorbance and group delay, and admittance magnitude and phase were analyzed based on sex, ear, and age. Responses were compared between children/adults and younger/older adults relative to age 50 years. Ear and sex were never significant. Significant differences were observed in children compared to adults in the area function, absorbance and group delay, and admittance magnitude and phase (0.25-4 kHz). Group delay differed between younger and older adults. A second experiment assessed level dependence of responses to better understand limitations in probe performance observed in the main experiment. These results show the utility of time-domain measurements of the area function and derived reflectance to understand sound-transmission differences across age at frequencies important to middle-ear function.

The influence of tympanic-membrane orientation on acoustic ear-canal quantities: A finite-element analysis

Assuming plane waves, ear-canal acoustic quantities, collectively known as wideband acoustic immittance (WAI), are frequently used in research and in the clinic to assess the conductive status of the middle ear. Secondary applications include compensating for the ear-canal acoustics when delivering stimuli to the ear and measuring otoacoustic emissions. However, the ear canal is inherently non-uniform and terminated at an oblique angle by the conical-shaped tympanic membrane (TM), thus potentially confounding the ability of WAI quantities in characterizing the middle-ear status. This paper studies the isolated possible confounding effects of TM orientation and shape on characterizing the middle ear using WAI in human ears. That is, the non-uniform geometry of the ear canal is not considered except for that resulting from the TM orientation and shape. This is achieved using finite-element models of uniform ear canals terminated by both lumped-element and finite-element middle-ear models. In addition, the effects on stimulation and reverse-transmission quantities are investigated, including the physical significance of quantities seeking to approximate the sound pressure at the TM. The results show a relatively small effect of the TM orientation on WAI quantities, except for a distinct delay above 10 kHz, further affecting some stimulation and reverse-transmission quantities.

Measurements of ear-canal geometry from high-resolution CT scans of human adult ears

Description of the ear canal's geometry is essential for describing peripheral sound flow, yet physical measurements of the canal's geometry are lacking and recent measurements suggest that older-adult-canal areas are systematically larger than previously assumed. Methods to measure ear-canal geometry from multi-planar reconstructions of high-resolution CT images were developed and applied to 66 ears from 47 subjects, ages 18-90 years. The canal's termination, central axis, entrance, and first bend were identified based on objective definitions, and the canal's cross-sectional area was measured along its canal's central axis in 1-2 mm increments. In general, left and right ears from a given subject were far more similar than measurements across subjects, where areas varied by factors of 2-3 at many locations. The canal areas varied systematically with age cohort at the first-bend location, where canal-based measurement probes likely sit; young adults (18-30 years) had an average area of 44mm2 whereas older adults (61-90 years) had a significantly larger average area of 69mm2. Across all subjects ages 18-90, measured means ± standard deviations included: canals termination area at the tympanic annulus 56±8mm2; area at the canal's first bend 53±18mm2; area at the canal's entrance 97±24mm2; and canal length 31.4±3.1mm2.

Comments on forward pressure and other reflectance-based quantities for delivering stimuli to the ear

The forward pressure has been proposed as an "optimal" reflectance-based quantity for delivering stimuli to the ear during evoked otoacoustic-emission measurements and audiometry. It is motivated by and avoids detrimental stimulus-level errors near standing-wave antiresonance frequencies when levels are adjusted in situ. While enjoying widespread popularity within research, the forward pressure possesses certain undesirable properties, some of which complicate its implementation into commercial otoacoustic-emission instruments conforming to existing international standards. These properties include its inability to approximate the total sound pressure anywhere in the ear canal and its discrepancy from the sound pressure at the tympanic membrane, which depends directly on the reflectance. This paper summarizes and comments on such properties of the forward pressure. Further, based on previous published data, alternative reflectance-based quantities that do not share these properties are investigated. A complex integrated pressure, with magnitude identical to the previously proposed scalar integrated pressure, is suggested as a suitable quantity for avoiding standing-wave errors when delivering stimuli to the ear. This complex integrated pressure approximates the magnitude and phase of the sound pressure at the tympanic membrane and can immediately be implemented into standardized commercial instruments to take advantage of improved stimulus-level accuracy and reproducibility in the clinic.