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Mapping the phase and amplitude of ossicular chain motion using sound-synchronous optical coherence vibrography
Antoine Ramier1,2, Jeffrey Tao Cheng3, Michael E Ravicz3
1Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Abstract:
The sound-driven vibration of the tympanic membrane and ossicular chain of middle-ear bones is fundamental to hearing. Here we show that optical coherence tomography in phase synchrony with a sound stimulus is well suited for volumetric, vibrational imaging of the ossicles and tympanic membrane. This imaging tool - OCT vibrography - provides intuitive motion pictures of the ossicular chain and how they vary with frequency. Using the chinchilla ear as a model, we investigated the vibrational snapshots and phase delays of the manubrium, incus, and stapes over 100 Hz to 15 kHz. The vibrography images reveal a previously undescribed mode of motion of the chinchilla ossicles at high frequencies.
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