Imaging shape changes in ear canals

A device comprising:

• an inflatable membrane shaped and size for insertion into and inflation within an ear canal of a subject;
• an imaging system configured to capture time-based variations in a three-dimensional image of a surface of the inflatable membrane, thereby providing a three-dimensional video of the ear canal
• a fluid delivery system coupled to the inflatable membrane to deliver a fluid to an interior of the inflatable membrane at a controlled pressure;
• and
• circuitry including a processor and memory configured to obtain a plurality of three-dimensional images of the surface at a video rate as the subject performs a musculoskeletal movement of the head.

A computer program product comprising computer executable code embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium that, when executing on one or more computing devices, performs the steps of:

• inserting an inflatable membrane into an ear canal of a subject;
• pressurizing the inflatable membrane within the ear canal with a fluid to a predetermined pressure, thereby providing an inflated membrane;
• obtaining a first three-dimensional image of a surface of the inflated membrane at the predetermined pressure;
• causing a musculoskeletal movement of a head of the subject;
• obtaining a plurality of three-dimensional images in a three-dimensional video from a series of time-separated measurements during the musculoskeletal movement, the plurality of three-dimensional images including a second three-dimensional image of the surface after the musculoskeletal movement;
• identifying a change in shape of the surface between the first three-dimensional image and the second three-dimensional image, the change in shape including a plurality of intermediate shapes during the musculoskeletal movement;
• and
• storing the change in shape as ear canal shape change data for the subject.