Imaging Acoustic Vibrations in the Tympanic Membrane Using Spectrally Encoded Interferometry

Imaging vibrational patterns of the tympanic membrane would allow an accurate measurement of its mechanical properties and provide early diagnosis of various hearing disorders. Various optical technologies including stroboscopic imaging, gated holography and optical coherence tomography have been previously demonstrated only in vitro. Spectrally encoded imaging has been previously demonstrated capable of imaging tissue acoustic vibrations with high spatial resolution, including two-dimensional phase and amplitude mapping. In this work, we present a compact optical apparatus for imaging acoustic vibrations in the tympanic membrane, which could be incorporated into a commercially available digital otoscope. By transmitting harmonic sound waves through the otoscope insufflation port and analyzing the spectral interferograms using custom-built software, we demonstrate high-resolution vibration imaging of a tympanic membrane within an ear model.