Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, Foch Hospital, School of Medicine, UFR Simone Veil, Université Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (Paris Saclay University), Paris, France.
Department of Paediatric Otolaryngology, AP-HP, Hôpital Necker-Enfants Malades, F-75015 Paris, France, Université de Paris, Faculté de Médecine, F-75006 Paris, France.
J Laryngol Otol. 2022 Feb;136(2):97-102. doi: 10.1017/S0022215121003844. Epub 2021 Nov 25.
For centuries, the tympanum has remained the only visible structure of the organ of hearing. This study aimed to trace the understanding of the tympanic membrane from antiquity to the early twentieth century.
A review was conducted of primary and secondary historical and scientific literature describing the tympanic membrane anatomy.
Although ancient polymaths sensed that sounds were vibrations that could spread in the air and be perceived by the hearing organ, there were numerous misconceptions about the tympanum until human dissections performed during the Renaissance. The tympanum was correctly described only centuries later when technological advances enabled otologists to understand it as a fundamental part of the hearing organ.
The tympanic membrane history reflects key stages in medical knowledge; limited for centuries, a great technological leap was possible in the nineteenth century, contributing to the emergence of otologists and laying the foundations of modern otology.
几个世纪以来，鼓膜一直是听觉器官唯一可见的结构。本研究旨在追溯从古至今对鼓膜的理解。
对描述鼓膜解剖结构的主要和次要历史及科学文献进行了回顾。
尽管古代博学多才的人意识到声音是可以在空气中传播并被听觉器官感知的振动，但直到文艺复兴时期进行人体解剖后，人们对鼓膜仍存在许多误解。直到几个世纪后，随着技术的进步使耳科医生能够将其理解为听觉器官的基本组成部分，才正确描述了鼓膜。
鼓膜的历史反映了医学知识的关键阶段；几个世纪以来，19 世纪发生了巨大的技术飞跃，促成了耳科医生的出现，并为现代耳科学奠定了基础。
