Abstract
Human eardrum or Tympanic Membrane (TM) is a thin structure located at the boundary between outer and middle ears. Shape, deformations, and thickness of the mammalian TMs have been studied by several groups; however, sound-induced forces of the TM, and the question of “how large the forces produced by acoustic waves are along the manubrium at the input to the middle-ear ossicular system?” have not been fully answered. In this paper, sound-induced forces in the human TM are measured at different tonal frequencies and at several points on its surface. A calibrated force sensor with a resolution of 0.5 μN is used with a 3D nano-positioner, enabling accurate placing of the sensor at points of interests on the TM surface. A closed-loop control system is designed and implemented in order to realize constant preload of the sensor at all the measuring points. Concomitant to the force measurements, time-averaged and three-dimensional stroboscopic holographic interferometry are used to compare the modal shape of the sound-induced motion of the TM before and after the presence of the force sensor. The preliminary results show that the maximum sound-induced forces at the umbo occurs at frequencies between 1.5 and 2.3 kHz, whereas the maximum forces for locations on the surface of the TM occurs at around 5–6 kHz.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Van der Jeught, S., Dirckx, J.J., Aerts, J.R., Bradu, A., Podoleanu, A.G., Buytaert, J.A.: Full-field thickness distribution of human tympanic membrane obtained with optical coherence tomography. JARO 14(4), 483–494 (2013)
Khaleghi, M., Furlong, C., Ravicz, M., Cheng, J.T., Rosowski, J.J.: Three-dimensional vibrometry of the human eardrum with stroboscopic lensless digital holography. J. Biomed. Opt. 20(5):051028 (2015)
Rosowski, J.J., Dobrev, I., Khaleghi, M., Lu, W., Cheng, J.T., Harrington, E., Furlong, C.: Measurements of three-dimensional shape and sound-induced motion of the chinchilla tympanic membrane. Hear. Res. 301, 44–52 (2013)
Aernouts, J., Aerts, J.R., Dirckx, J.J.: Mechanical properties of human tympanic membrane in the quasi-static regime from in situ point indentation measurements. Hear. Res. 290(1), 45–54 (2012)
Khaleghi, M., Dobrev, I., Harrington, E., Furlong, C., Rosowski, J.J.: Study of the transient response of Tympanic Membranes under acoustic excitation. In: Barthelat, F., Zavattieri, P., Korach, C.S., Prorok, B.C., Jane Grande-Allen, K. (eds.) Mechanics of Biological Systems and Materials, vol. 4, pp. 1–9. Springer, Cham (2014)
FemtoTools Website.: http://www.femtotools.com/products/accessories/ft-s-microforce-sensing-probe. Accessed 10 Mar 2015.
Beyeler, F., Muntwyler, S., Dietze, W.: Sub-millinewton capacitive MEMS force sensor for mechanical testing on a microscope. U.S. Patent Application 14/347,421, 2012
Dirckx, J.J.J., Decraemer, W.F.: Coating techniques in optical interferometric metrology. Appl. Opt. 36(13), 2776–2782 (1997)
Cheng, J.T., Hamade, M., Merchant, S.N., Rosowski, J.J., Harrington, E., Furlong, C.: Wave motion on the surface of the human tympanic membrane: holographic measurement and modeling analysis. JASA 133(2), 918–937 (2013)
Khaleghi, M., Lu, W., Dobrev, I., Cheng, J.T., Furlong, C., Rosowski, J.J.: Digital holographic measurements of shape and three-dimensional sound-induced displacements of Tympanic Membrane. Opt. Eng. 52(10), 101916 (2013)
Khaleghi, M., Guignard, J., Furlong, C., Rosowski, J.J.: Simultaneous full-field 3D vibrometry of the human eardrum using spatial-bandwidth multiplexed holography. J. Biomed. Opt. 20(11), 111202 (2015)
Alamdari, A., Krovi, V.: Active reconfiguration for performance enhancement in articulated wheeled vehicles. Proc. ASME 2014, Dynamic Systems and Control Conference, V002T27A004-V002T27A004 (2014)
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (MEEI), and the Mechanical Engineering Department at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. We also acknowledge the support of all of the members of the CHSLT labs at WPI and Eaton-Peabody labs at MEEI.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 The Society for Experimental Mechanics, Inc.
About this paper
Cite this paper
Khaleghi, M., Furlong, C., Cheng, J.T., Rosowski, J.J. (2016). Characterization of Acoustically-Induced Forces of the Human Eardrum. In: Tekalur, S., Zavattieri, P., Korach, C. (eds) Mechanics of Biological Systems and Materials, Volume 6. Conference Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Mechanics Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21455-9_18
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21455-9_18
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-21454-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-21455-9
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)