Middle ear optical coherence tomography imaging system

This project will develop a microscope to allow ear surgeons to non-invasively see through the ear drum and into the middle ear. 250,000 ear surgeries are conducted annually in the US, but currently ear surgeons do not have a good diagnostic tool for imaging the middle ear non-invasively. For many forms of conductive hearing loss, conclusive diagnosis is only achieved in the operating room once the eardrum is cut open. Our imaging system uses optical coherence tomography, a safe, non-invasive imaging method that produces depth-resolved images of the ear and measure the response of ear structures to sound. This last feature allows clinicians to pinpoint the site of fixations or discontinuities that cause conductive hearing loss. The aim of this work is to answer the question: Can middle ear optical coherence tomography improve middle ear diagnostics and generate better treatment outcomes for patients suffering from conductive hearing loss

Faculty Supervisor:

Jeremy Brown;Geoff Maksym

Student:

Dan MacDougall;Josh Farrell;Chen Su;Junzhe Wang

Partner:

Audioptics Medical Inc

Discipline:

Engineering - biomedical

Sector:

Other

University:

Dalhousie University