Otoscope
AssigneeUniversity of Utah Research Foundation
InventorsNicholas Steven Witham, Tarek Sami Marrouche, Allie Kachel, Bryan R. McRae
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An otoscope and method for visualizing compliance of the tympanic membrane in response to a pressure stimulus. The otoscope includes a handle, a housing, a laser assembly configured to selectively project a grid array of dots on a tympanic membrane of a patient, a camera configured to selectively capture activity of the tympanic membrane, a pressure transducer configured to selectively apply a stimulus to the tympanic membrane, a display pivotably coupled to the handle, and a controller. The display is configured to display the tympanic membrane in true color and a two-dimensional interpolated surface plot representing activity of the tympanic membrane in response to the stimulus.
Claims23
An otoscope comprising:
- a handle;
- a housing coupled to the handle and having an inlet;
- a laser assembly at least partially enclosed within the handle and configured to selectively project, through the inlet, a grid array of dots on a tympanic membrane of a patient;
- a camera supported by one of the handle or the housing and configured to selectively capture activity of the tympanic membrane;
- a pressure transducer supported by one of the handle or the housing and configured to selectively apply a stimulus to the tympanic membrane;
- a display pivotably coupled to the handle;
- a controller in communication with laser assembly and the display;
- and
- a microprocessor in communication with the controller, the camera, and the display,
- wherein the display is configured to display the tympanic membrane in true color and a two-dimensional interpolated surface plot representing activity of the tympanic membrane in response to the stimulus.
An otoscope comprising:
- a handle;
- a housing coupled to the handle and having an inlet;
- a laser assembly at least partially enclosed within the handle and configured to selectively project, through the inlet, a grid array of dots on a tympanic membrane of a patient, the laser assembly including a laser diode, a diffraction grating, a first lens positioned on a first side of the diffraction grating, and second lens positioned on a second, opposite side of the diffraction grating, the first lens being positioned between the laser diode and the diffraction grating and being a collimating lens, the second lens being a convex lens;
- a camera supported by one of the handle or the housing and configured to selectively capture activity of the tympanic membrane;
- a pressure transducer supported by one of the handle or the housing and configured to selectively apply a stimulus to the tympanic membrane;
- a display supported by the handle;
- a controller in communication with the laser assembly, and the display;
- and
- a microprocessor in communication with the controller, the camera, and the display, the microprocessor configured to measure activity of the tympanic membrane in response to the stimulus applied by the pump based on the changes in distance between each dot of the grid array of dots projected on the tympanic membrane and a central dot of the grid array of dots and configured to construct a two-dimensional plot representing a distance of each dot relative to the center dot of the grid array of dots, wherein the microprocessor is configured to provide instructions to display the two-dimensional surface plot on the display.
An otoscope comprising:
- a handle;
- a housing coupled to the handle and having an inlet;
- a laser assembly at least partially enclosed within the handle and configured to selectively illuminate, through the inlet, a grid array of dots on a tympanic membrane of a patient;
- a camera supported within the housing and configured to selectively capture activity of the tympanic membrane;
- a pressure transducer supported by one of the handle or the housing and configured to selectively apply a stimulus to the tympanic membrane;
- a display coupled to the handle;
- a controller in communication with the laser assembly, the camera, and the display, the controller including a memory;
- and
- a microprocessor in communication with the controller and the display,
- wherein the microprocessor is configured to record a video of activity of the tympanic membrane;
- wherein the display is configured to display real-time video and recorded video.
A method of displaying activity of a tympanic membrane of a patient on a display of an otoscope:
- activating a laser assembly of an otoscope to selectively project a grid array of dots on the tympanic membrane;
- applying a stimulus to the tympanic membrane;
- measuring, in response to the stimulus, changes in distance between each dot of the grid array of dots projected on the tympanic membrane and a center dot of the grid array of dots;
- constructing a topographical surface plot from a two-dimensional surface plot;
- and
- displaying, on a display, the tympanic membrane and the topographical surface plot.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.