Development of an attachment to the ear pick for quantitative evaluation of ossicular mobility
耳小骨可動性の定量的評価に向けた耳科探針用アタッチメントの開発

Kai TAKAKUWA, Takuya HASHIMOTO, Sho KANZAKI, Takuji KOIKE
2016 The Proceedings of Mechanical Engineering Congress Japan  
The ossicular chain, which consists of the malleus, the incus and the stapes, plays an important role in hearing. If the ossicles become fixed somewhere, hearing loss occurs. In order to improve the level of hearing, the fixed part of the ossicles must be sufficiently recovered or replaced. Evaluating the mobility of the stapes is important during the tympanoplasty surgery, because the ossicular mobility affects the prognosis for the improvement of the hearing level. However, an objective
more » ... ement of the stapes mobility has up to now been rarely performed during a surgery. In a previous study, we created a mechanism which consists of a force sensor and an actuator and pushes the ossicles during surgery. Then the ossicular mobility was evaluated based on the relationship between the force and the displacement. In this study, a new mechanism has been developed. The probe of the measuring system consists of an ear pick, an actuator and a force sensor. The ossicles are vibrated with the ear pick, and the reaction force from the ossicles is measured with the force sensor. We suggest that using the calibration curve, the fixation of the ossicles is quantitatively evaluated with the device.
doi:10.1299/jsmemecj.2016.s0220106 fatcat:uucf5lcm2fa6xmyvq3uu2vzohm