In vivo functional imaging of the human middle ear with a hand-held optical coherence tomography device

We describe an optical coherence tomography and vibrometry system designed for portable hand-held usage in the otology clinic on awake patients. The system provides clinically relevant point-of-care morphological imaging with 14-44 mu m resolution and functional vibratory measures with sub-nanometer sensitivity. We evaluated various new approaches for extracting functional information including a multi-tone stimulus, a continuous chirp stimulus, and alternating air and bone stimulus. We also explored the vibratory response over an area of the tympanic membrane (TM) and generated TM thickness maps. Our results suggest that the system can provide real-time in vivo imaging and vibrometry of the ear and could prove useful for investigating otologic pathology in the clinic setting. (c) 2021 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement

Automated summary

The optical coherence tomography and vibrometry system described in the study is designed for portable hand-held usage in otology clinics, providing clinically relevant morphological imaging with high resolution and functional vibratory measures. Various new approaches were evaluated for extracting functional information, and tympanic membrane thickness maps were generated, indicating the system's potential for real-time in vivo imaging and vibrometry of the ear in investigating otologic pathology.