measure if the eardrum is pliable enough to
vibrate correctly in response to sound, or is stiff
from the pressure of fluid behind it.
A team of engineers and doctors at the
University of Washington developed a simple
smartphone approach for acoustic testing:
Cut a piece of paper, fold it into a funnel shape
and tape it around the phone’s microphone
and speakers. Aim the funnel at the ear canal
to focus sound. An experimental app beams
in birdlike chirps, at a specific frequency. The
microphone detects sound waves bouncing off
the eardrum.
The app analyzes that echo, a broad-spectrum
vibration from a healthy eardrum. Pus or
uninfected fluid alters the eardrum’s mobility
and changes the reflected sound. The app
sends a text saying whether it’s likely that
middle-ear fluid is present — one piece of
information, along with other symptoms, that
might be used for diagnosis.
“This type of technology could potentially avoid
needless doctor visits,” said Dr. Justin Golub, a
Columbia University ear specialist who wasn’t
involved with the research. Golub often sees
patients with suspected ear infections who don’t
actually have one. He called the tool’s accuracy
“quite impressive.”
Researchers tested the system on 98 ears,
in children older than 18 months who were
about to undergo surgery at Seattle Children’s
Hospital. Half were having ear tubes implanted,
so doctors could tell exactly how much fluid
was present to compare with the smartphone
results. The system detected fluid as well or
better than specialized acoustic testing devices,
the team reported in the journal Science
Translational Medicine.
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