Measurement of the eardrum impedance of human ears.

The determination of an acoustical impedance requires measurements of pressure and volume velocity. As no direct method is available for measuring velocity in an ear canal, a technique was developed which is based on pure pressure measurements. The ear canal is used as a measuring tube, the area function of which is also deduced from the pressure measurements. High-frequency measurements in living subjects involve many sources of errors. A criterion for deciding if a good measurement has been made is given. The technique of measurements is described, regarding both the use of probe tube microphones and the computer aided data recording. Finally, the results are presented, and some comments are given. A reliable interpretation of the results seems to be impossible because of lack of our knowledge of the middle ear function at high frequencies.