Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T06:44:29.475Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

An experimental investigation of the resolution of tympanometry for micro-perforations of the tympanic membrane

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 March 2006

D. J. McFerran
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge, UK
T. E. Mitchell
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge, UK
D. M. Baguley
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge, UK
D. A. Moffat
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge, UK

Abstract

Tympanometry is well established as a useful tool in the field of otological diagnosis. There have been sporadic reports, however, of bizarre tympanograms in the presence of small perforations of the tympanic membrane. A model of the outer and middle ears was fabricated which was able to produce normal and pathological tympanograms. This model was used to investigate tympanometry in the presence of microperforations. A hypothesis for the mechanism of generation of sawtooth tympanograms in the presence of micro-perforations is postulated.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Royal Society of Medicine Press Limited 2001

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)