Sonometric evaluation of eustachian tube function using broadband stimuli.

New measurements of acoustical transmission through the eustachian tube (ET) have been obtained in a series of experiments directed toward the development of a clinical instrument to assess ET function behind an intact tympanic membrane (TM). Using a sound conduction method, a sound source was placed in one nostril, and the acoustical energy that was transmitted through the ET was measured by a microphone placed in the ear canal. The present study used a broadband noise as the acoustical stimulus, in contrast to the tonal stimuli employed in previous investigations. This stimulus was chosen because it is believed to reduce the variability in the data due to intersubject differences in the acoustics of the nasopharynx and ET, and to avoid any a priori assumptions concerning the specific frequencies that would be of greatest diagnostic significance. Averaged spectra of the sound transmitted to the ear canal were obtained for three experimental conditions: acoustical source present during subject swallowing, source present with no swallowing, and subject swallowing with source absent. A Bayesian classification scheme based on the statistics of these spectra was used in classifying subjects into one of two possible categories, normal and abnormal ET function. A comparison was made between sonometric classification and classification based on a tympanometric ET function test. Correlation between the two methods was 87.1%.