The goal of the proposed research project is to improve knowledge of sound transmission in various pathologic conditions affecting the human middle ear, and apply this information to improve postoperative hearing results after surgical procedures (tympanoplasty and mastoidectomy) for chronic otitis media. Physiologic, anatomic and audiologic data obtained from studies on temporal bones with normal, diseased, or surgically modified middle ears will be used to test and refine quantitative models of the human middle ear. Physiologic studies will consist of acoustico-mechanical measurements (middle ear input impedance, stapes footplate motion, oval and round window pressures) made on fresh temporal bones extracted from human cadavers to characterize the following clinically relevant situations: type IV tympanoplasty reconstruction; effects of mastoidectomy cavities and of fluid in the middle ear; ossicular reconstruction; and ossicular, oval, and round window fixation. These measurements will be complemented by light microscopic and audiometric studies from subjects with normal and pathologic middle ears. These physiologic, anatomic, and audiologic measurements coupled with quantitative signal processing analyses should allow us to explain signal transmission in pathologic and reconstructed ears in terms of the physical properties of the structures involved. Such knowledge can aid otologic surgeons in selecting from a variety of tympanoplasty techniques, or in modifying techniques, in order to optimize postoperative hearing results.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Type
Clinical Investigator Award (CIA) (K08)
Project #
5K08DC000088-03
Application #
2124496
Study Section
Communication Disorders Review Committee (CDRC)
Project Start
1993-09-30
Project End
1998-08-31
Budget Start
1995-09-01
Budget End
1996-08-31
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
1995
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary
Department
Type
DUNS #
073825945
City
Boston
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
02114
Whittemore Jr, K R; Merchant, S N; Rosowski, J J (1998) Acoustic mechanisms: canal wall-up versus canal wall-down mastoidectomy. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 118:751-61
Cherukupally, S R; Merchant, S N; Rosowski, J J (1998) Correlations between pathologic changes in the stapes and conductive hearing loss in otosclerosis. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 107:319-26
Merchant, S N; Ravicz, M E; Rosowski, J J (1997) Mechanics of type IV tympanoplasty: experimental findings and surgical implications. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 106:49-60
Merchant, S N; Ravicz, M E; Puria, S et al. (1997) Analysis of middle ear mechanics and application to diseased and reconstructed ears. Am J Otol 18:139-54
Gopen, Q; Rosowski, J J; Merchant, S N (1997) Anatomy of the normal human cochlear aqueduct with functional implications. Hear Res 107:9-22
Merchant, S N; Ravicz, M E; Rosowski, J J (1996) Acoustic input impedance of the stapes and cochlea in human temporal bones. Hear Res 97:30-45
Rosowski, J J; Merchant, S N (1995) Mechanical and acoustic analysis of middle ear reconstruction. Am J Otol 16:486-97
Rosowski, J J; Merchant, S N; Ravicz, M E (1995) Middle ear mechanics of type IV and type V tympanoplasty: I. Model analysis and predictions. Am J Otol 16:555-64