Stinson M R, Lawton B W
Physics Division, National Research Council, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
J Acoust Soc Am. 1989 Jun;85(6):2492-503. doi: 10.1121/1.397744.
The geometry of 15 human ear canals has been studied. Silicone rubber molds were made of the ear canals of human cadavers, and a mechanical probe system was used to obtain approximately 1000 coordinate points over the surface of each mold. The data points were accurate to about 0.03 mm in each of the three space directions, allowing ample resolution of surface detail. The measurements have been summarized as individual ear canal area functions, the area of cross-sectional slices normal to a curved central axis following the bends of the canal. Large intersubject differences were found, but several overall trends were evident in the area functions. Accurate specification of the canal geometry has lead to improved predictions of the sound-pressure distribution along the human ear canal at frequencies greater than 8 kHz. Such predictions are relevant to the development of high-frequency audiometric methods, high-fidelity hearing aids, and to the interpretation of experiments in physiological and psychological acoustics.
对15个正常人耳道的几何形状进行了研究。用硅橡胶制作了人体尸体耳道的模具，并使用机械探针系统在每个模具表面获取了大约1000个坐标点。这些数据点在三个空间方向上的精度约为0.03毫米，足以清晰分辨表面细节。测量结果已汇总为各个耳道面积函数，即垂直于沿着耳道弯曲的弯曲中心轴的横截面切片的面积。研究发现个体之间存在很大差异，但在面积函数中也有几个总体趋势是明显的。耳道几何形状的精确描述已使在高于8kHz频率下沿人耳道的声压分布的预测得到改进。这样的预测与高频听力测定方法、高保真助听器的开发以及生理和心理声学实验的解释有关。
