Factors affecting transmission of vibrations from the eardrum to the stapes in the surgically reconstructed human middle ear

Disease in the middle ear is common, and often causes hearing loss by damaging the bones in the middle ear that take vibrations from the eardrum to the inner ear. Hearing loss can be a severe handicap for daily functioning. Hearing can be restored by replacing the middle ear bones with artificial bones. This surgery can be very effective, but the results are unpredictable. The goal of our research is to examine how sound energy gets from the eardrum, through these artificial bones to the inner ear, and which factors determine the efficiency of this sound transmission. We measure use a human cadavaric ear, and reconstruct it just as we would do in the operating room, and measure the minute vibrations of the various structures with a laser Doppler vibrometer. Our goal is to optmize surgical reconstructions so we can achieve more reliable hearing restoration. Our research is very translational, and has immediate impact on surgical techniques to improve hearing.