Development and validation of a handheld 3D-otoscope.

The human eardrum is a conically shaped thin membrane that separates the outer ear from the middle ear. It conducts sound vibrations from the external ear canal to the ossicles and protects the middle ear from infections. The 3D shape of the eardrum plays a crucial role in this process and any structural change to its topography is an important indicator for existing or impending pathology or hearing impairment. An accurate, quantitative technique to measure 3D deformation of the membrane in-vivo is however still missing. Continuing on the research that I have conducted during my PhD and during the first two years of my post-doctoral postition, I will develop a new optical measurement technique to measure eardrum deformations in 3D, in real-time and with high resolution in living patients. Based on previously published results (see 2017 bibliography), we can show that in order to implement 'structured light profilometry' techniques in a miniaturised optical setup such as a handheld otoscopic device, we have to replace the 3-or 4-phase shifting technique with one that only requires a single pattern to be projected on the target surface, per 3D measurement. To facilitate this, we are developing a novel correspondence technique based on deep learning pattern recognition to link input fringe patterns to output surface models directly. By employing a highspeed camera and state-of-the-art parallel programming techniques, the digital processing pipeline will be sufficiently fast to enable real-time monitoring of eardrum surface shape deformations that are caused by (controlled) pressure changes in the middle ear cavity. Both fundamental properties of eardrum mechanics and practical applicability in the clinical setup will be investigated. The new otological device will be validated in the ENT office as a diagnostic tool in the detection of early-stage middle ear inflammation, retraction pockets, cholesteatoma and Eustachian tube (dys)functioning.

Keywords:GPU COMPUTING, MEDICAL IMAGING, TYMPANIC MEMBRANE

Disciplines:Classical physics, Elementary particle and high energy physics, Other physical sciences, Multimedia processing, Biological system engineering, Biomaterials engineering, Biomechanical engineering, Medical biotechnology, Other (bio)medical engineering, Signal processing