Middle-ear phenomenology: the view from the three windows.

To provide a common ground for the comparison between theory and experiment, this paper presents a framework for the phenomenological description of middle-ear mechanics. The framework defines those measurements sufficient to characterize the transduction properties of the middle ear and its components. Phenomenological equations are represented in the form of an equivalent electrical circuit that can be used to deduce testable relations among measurable quantities. Two applications are then discussed. First, the classical concept of the middle-ear transformer ratio is generalized to include any effects of eardrum flexion or nonrotational ossicular motion. Middle-ear models predict that the resulting transformer ratios vary considerably with frequency. Second, the conditions under which the topology of existing circuit analogs satisfactorily approximates middle-ear mechanics are given. Most middle-ear models cannot be used to correctly predict the absolute pressures in the cochlea.