Department of Audiology & Speech Pathology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA.
Knoxville Veterans Affairs, Audiology, Knoxville, Tennessee 37919, USA.
J Acoust Soc Am. 2024 Jun 1;155(6):3615-3626. doi: 10.1121/10.0026224.
The current work investigated the effects of mass-loading the eardrum on wideband absorbance in humans. A non-invasive approach to mass-loading the eardrum was utilized in which water was placed on the eardrum via ear canal access. The mass-loaded absorbance was compared to absorbance measured for two alternative middle ear states: normal and stiffened. To stiffen the ear, subjects pressurized the middle ear through either exsufflation or insufflation concurrent with Eustachian tube opening. Mass-loading the eardrum was hypothesized to reduce high-frequency absorbance, whereas pressurizing the middle ear was hypothesized to reduce low- to mid-frequency absorbance. Discriminant linear analysis classification was performed to evaluate the utility of absorbance in differentiating between conditions. Water on the eardrum reduced absorbance over the 0.7- to 6-kHz frequency range and increased absorbance at frequencies below approximately 0.5 kHz; these changes approximated the pattern of changes reported in both hearing thresholds and stapes motion upon mass-loading the eardrum. Pressurizing the middle ear reduced the absorbance over the 0.125- to 4-kHz frequency range. Several classification models based on the absorbance in two- or three-frequency bands had accuracy exceeding 88%.
本研究旨在探讨鼓膜质量负载对人类宽带吸声的影响。采用非侵入性的鼓膜质量负载方法，通过耳道将水置于鼓膜上。将质量负载的吸声与两种替代中耳状态（正常和刚性）测量的吸声进行比较。为了使耳朵刚性化，通过耳咽管开放，通过呼气或吸气对中耳加压。假设鼓膜质量负载会降低高频吸声，而中耳加压会降低低频到中频吸声。进行判别线性分析分类，以评估吸声在区分不同条件方面的效用。鼓膜上的水降低了 0.7 至 6 kHz 频率范围内的吸声，并在约 0.5 kHz 以下的频率处增加了吸声；这些变化与鼓膜质量负载引起的听力阈值和镫骨运动变化的模式相似。中耳加压降低了 0.125 至 4 kHz 频率范围内的吸声。基于两个或三个频带吸声的几种分类模型的准确性超过 88%。
