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Tympanometry
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Tympanometry is the test that measures how easily the eardrum can move. The eardrum is the membrane that closes off the far end of the ear canal and vibrates when sound reaches it.
It is done with a probe, much like an earbud, that is placed in the ear canal and seals it. The probe does two things at once: it changes the air pressure inside the canal, raising it and lowering it, and it plays a tone. The sound waves of that tone make the eardrum vibrate, and that vibration alters the pressure in the sealed canal. That pressure change is exactly what the machine measures and records. Pushing and pulling the air in the canal to see whether the membrane responds.
If the eardrum barely moves, that indicates that fluid has built up behind it, in the tympanic cavity, the space of the middle ear. When the recording comes out as a flat curve, that result supports a diagnosis of otitis media with effusion, a buildup of fluid in the middle ear.
In brief
Tympanometry measures how easily the eardrum can move.
A probe seals the ear canal, changes the pressure inside it, and plays a tone; the tone makes the eardrum vibrate, and that vibration changes the pressure in the canal, which is what gets recorded.
Pushing and pulling the air in the canal to see whether the membrane responds.
If the eardrum barely moves, that is a sign that fluid has built up behind it, and a flat curve supports a diagnosis of otitis media with effusion.
Sources (2)
- Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG), InformedHealth.orgIn brief: What do ear examinations involve?, InformedHealth.orgPublished
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingOtitis Media With Effusion, StatPearlsPublished
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