Measurement of the ossicular vibration ratio in human temporal bones by use of a video measuring system

Abstract

Vibration modes of the ossicles and the lever function were studied in human cadaver temporal bones with an intact cochlea. After placing tiny steel spheres on the ossicles, ossicular vibration to a sound stimulus was measured by observing the displacements of the spheres under a microscope with strobe illumination by means of a video measuring system. The lever ratio varied from 1.9 at 0.6 kHz (minimum) to a peak of 6 near 2 kHz. This relatively high lever ratio at higher frequencies was considered to be caused by a shift of the malleus-incus rotation axis secondary to the loading of the cochlear fluid on the ossicular system. Dependence of the lever ratio on frequency indicated that the rotation axis of the ossicles was not fixed, but variable according to frequency due to a relative increase in the translational movements of the rotation axis of the malleus and incus with frequency.