Primate model for studies of clinical problems of middle ear functions

Eustachian tube and middle ear function has been studied in the acute and chronically prepared Rhesus monkey preparation. Measures have included observations of tympanometry and input impedance of the middle ear, of transmission of energy through the middle ear, of static middle ear pressure and of threshold and suprathreshold hearing. Positive and negative long and short-term static middle ear pressures, the effects of middle ear fluids, and various aspects of Eustachian tube function in both normal and pathologic preparations have been studied. In general our observations indicate that the Old World monkey may provide a model permitting acquisition of quantitative data of a variety of middle ear functions under carefully controlled laboratory conditions, including those requiring measures simply not possible in man.