Portable, Easy-to-Use Acoustic Reflectance Measurement

Software developed by Dr. Denis Fitzpatrick for Dr. Gabrielle Merchant

The Problem:

Measurement hardware built for use in a clinical setting often don't include the most recent algorithms used by researchers and the underlying raw data is often difficult to access.

Interacoustics, an industry leader in hearing and balance diagnostic instruments, provides a set of basic software modules for researchers to process data acquired from the hand-held Titan tympanometer. Simple demo programs illustrate use of the library but are not suitable for use in a research lab, nor for use on infants and young children.

For this research project it was vital to minimize operator interaction with the program running the measurements while ensuring comprehensive, high-quality data capture.

The Solution:

Our engineer created a custom user-interface using Matlab's App Designer to interact with Interacoustics' software libraries. The interface was built to support the following requirements:

• Instant feedback on the quality of the pressure seal inside the ear.
• The ability to take repeated measurements with a single click, which significantly reduced the time required to run the assessment.
• The ability to quickly apply non-destructive smoothing to noisy data, which reduced time needed for repeated measurements.

Development is ongoing and now includes code to organize and analyze the raw data collected.