Portable hand-held tympanometer

A portable hand-held tympanometer comprising a unitary casing which consists of a head-and-handle portion and a speculum integral with the casing head-and-handle portion;

• the speculum including means to engage in sealed relation the canal of an ear being examined;
• means in the speculum for transmitting acoustic signals into the ear canal;
• means in the speculum for receiving acoustic signals reflected back through the canal by the tympanic membrane at the inner end of the canal;
• a pressure transducer in the speculum;
• pump means in the casing head-and-handle portion for introducing variable pressures into the ear canal while said auditory signals are being transmitted and received;
• and information display means situated on the casing head-and-handle portion for indicating the admittance of the tympanic membrane as determined by the signal transmitting and receiving means and the pressure transducer.

A self-contained, portable, hand-held tympanometer comprising a casing that includes a combined handle-and-head portion and a speculum integral with the casing handle-and-head portion, the speculum including means to enter the canal of an ear being examined;

• a pliable removable tip at a distal end of the speculum for effecting sealing engagment between the speculum and the ear canal;
• means in the speculum for transmitting acoustic signals into the ear canal;
• means in the speculum for receiving acoustic signals reflected back through the canal by the tympanic membrane at the inner end of the canal;
• a pressure transducer in the speculum;
• pump means in the casing head-and-handle portion for introducing variable pressures into the ear canal while said acoustic signals are being transmitted and received;
• and information display means situated on the casing head-and-handle portion for indicating the admittance of the tympanic membrane as determined by the signal transmitting and receiving means and the pressure transducer.

A portable, hand-held tympanometer comprising a hand-holdable casing;

• a speculum integral with said casing and including means for entering the canal of an ear being examined;
• a pliable tip at a distal end of the speculum for effecting sealing engagement between the speculum and the ear canal;
• means in the speculum for transmitting signals into the ear canal;
• means in the speculum for receiving signals reflected back through the canal by the tympanic membrane at the inner end of the canal;
• a pressure transducer in the speculum;
• pump means in the casing for introducing variable pressures into the ear canal while said signals are being transmitted and received;
• wherein the pump means include a piston and means for sensing the position of the piston;
• and information display means on said casing for indicating the admittance of the tympanic membrane as determined by the signal transmitting and receiving means and the pressure transducer.

A portable, hand-held tympanometer comprising a body portion and a head portion connected to the body portion;

• a speculum connected to the head portion, the speculum being adapted to enter the canal of the ear being examined;
• a pliable, removable tip at a distal end of the speculum for effecting sealing engagement between the speculum and the ear canal;
• a first transducer means in the speculum for transmitting acoustic signals into the ear canal;
• a second transducer means in the speculum for receiving the acoustic signals that are reflected back through the canal by the tympanic membrane at the inner end of the canal;
• a pressure transducer in the speculum;
• a pump in the body portion for introducing a range of pressures into the ear canal through the pressure transducer while said acoustic signals are being transmitted and received;
• information display means in the head portion for indicating the admittance of the tympanic membrane as determined by the signal transmitting and receiving means and the pressure transducer;
• means in the body portion for storing the information displayed by the information display means;
• and circuit means in the tympanometer body portion and head portion for processing signals from the transducers and controlling the pump and display means.