Surgery – Diagnostic testing – Ear or testing by auditory stimulus
Patent
1998-03-09
1999-12-28
Hindenburg, Max
Surgery
Diagnostic testing
Ear or testing by auditory stimulus
A61B 1000
Patent
active
060074949
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device for sensing aural data.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Extensive investigation has already been done in obtaining qualitative, more particularly also quantitive, data relevant to the condition of normal and disturbed hearing, the discovery made by Kemp (see EP-B1.15258) being particularly of significance in this respect that sound emissions in the external canal can be measured as a reaction to a sound event which are indicative of the condition in the ear. These so-called evoked otoacoustic emissions were measured by Kemp with the aid of an acoustic sensor comprising a highly-sensitive miniature microphone and a sound emitter. It is also known that otoacoustic emissions may also materialize spontaneously, i.e. without the ear being stimulated from without.
Direct ear-drum vibration measurement in examining the mechanics of the middle ear is already being done by the method of laser Doppler vibrometry. This method is described in the German publication of N. Stasche, H. -J. Foth and K. Hormann in HNO (1993), 41, pages 1 to 6. In this method the beam of a He--Ne laser is split by a beam divider and the two component beams, one of which is directed at the object being examined, are subsequently caused to produce an interference effect. From the shift in frequency the amplitude of the sensed point in the ear-drum is determined. For inputting the laser light to the object being examined Stasche et al make use of a flexible fiber optic lightguide which needs to be located in the immediate vicinity of this object. Apart from problems as to resolution (small aperture) this may also make measuring difficult on the patient since the fiber optic lightguide must not come into contact with the ear-drum.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is to further improve aural sensing, more particularly by obtaining data permitting quantification, in obviating the drawbacks of prior art as described. More particularly, the object is to provide a device making it possible to simply obtain measurement data without stressing the patient substantially. It is a further object to make the device and a corresponding method suitable for obtaining information--where necessary, following analysis--as to the condition of the middle and/or internal ear capable of assisting the physician as a basis for diagnosis and/or therapy.
This object is achieved by a device as set forth in claim 1. Preferred embodiments of the device read from the dependent claims 2 to 16, whereby the wording of all claims is made with reference to the contents of the description.
The device in accordance with the invention for sensing aural data comprises means for, more particularly, non-contact vibration measurement of the middle ear and/or ear-drum with the aid of electromagnetic waves, whereby for inputting the electromagnetic waves used to the object being sensed a microscope, more particularly an optical microscope, is provided.
Inputting is done such that the electromagnetic beams are, more particularly, guided through the optical system of the microscope onto the object being sensed. The beams reflected from the object being sensed are preferably returned likewise through the optical system of the microscope and subsequently analyzed. Compared to known devices as described, accuracy is enhanced by this measurement arrangement, as a result of which events taking place in the ear can be detected and quantified which formerly thwarted measurement. This is due, among other things, to the device in accordance with the invention enabling the majority of the reflected electromagnetic waves to be guided into the analyzer (high aperture) correspondingly improving the signal-to-noise ratio.
As described, the device in accordance with the invention is designed to measure the vibration of the middle ear and/or ear-drum, thus making it primarily possible to measure vibrations in the ear-drum and fundamentally in all ossicles. In this arrangement sensing the measure
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Charles Koester et al, "Confocal slit divided-aperature microscope: applications in ear research" Applied Optics Feb. 1994.
Brochure of Polytec Optronics, Inc., Costa Mesa, CA, USA, 8 pages, "Fiber Optic Laser Vibrometer".
Applied Optics, Bd. 33, Nr. 4, Feb. 1, 1994, NY pp. 702-708, C.J. Koester et al. "Confocal slit divided-aperature microscope: applications in ear research".
HNO, Bd. 41, Nr. 1/93, Jan. 1993, DE, Seiten 1-6, N. Stache et al., "Laser-Doppler-Vibrometrie (LDV) des Trommelfells".
Journal of Biomechancial Engineering, Bd. 101, Nr. 4, Nov. 1979, New York (US), Seiten 267-270, J.M. Hamelink et al. "Ocular Tonometry Through Sonic Excitation and Laser Doppler Velocimetry".
Hearing Research, 51 (1991) 203-214, 1991 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. 0378-5955/91, A. Nutall et al. "Laser Doppler velocimetry of basilar membrane vibration".
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Gummer Anthony W.
Zenner Hans Peter
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