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Capacitive Pressure/Velocity Probe for Acoustic Measurements in the Human Ear Canal

Award Number: R01DC017720
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DEAFNESS AND OTHER COMMUNICATION DISORDERS
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

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The aim of this research is to create a miniature acoustic velocity sensor which, when combined with a conventional miniature pressure microphone will enable accurate measurements of otoacoustic emissions and wideband middle-ear reflectance within the human ear canal. These quantities reveal important information about the functional status of the peripheral auditory system. Existing methods of making acoustic measurements within the ear canal using sound pressure microphones suffer from the strong dependence of pressure on the measurement location. This research will enable the detection of acoustic particle velocity simultaneously with sound pressure providing a much more repeatable and reliable measure of otoacoustic emissions than existing methods. Existing methods for measuring physiologically relevant sounds in the ear canal also suffer because these sounds are often very quiet, close to the noise floors of the miniature microphones employed in state-of-the-art systems for measuring otoacoustic emissions. The proposed effort will enable the detection of otoacoustic emissions at levels at least 10 dB lower than currently feasible. Lowering the measurement noise floor will reduce the averaging time necessary to extract these signals from noise and enable the detection of much quieter otoacoustic emissions, which can be important in subjects with hearing loss. Extending our ability to measure these important sounds in the human ear canal will lead to new discoveries of middle and inner ear function and will provide greatly improved clinical tools for the hearing impaired. This research comprises an extension of a recent discovery by the investigators that nanoscale fibers can be driven by viscous forces such that their sound-induced vibrations can be nearly identical to that of the air in a sound field. The motion of air velocity-driven electrodes will be detected using their new approach to capacitive sensing that is appropriate for highly compliant structures such as those used here. The novel acoustic velocity sensor will then be incorporated with a low-noise miniature hearing aid microphone in a measurement device. Acoustic measurements in human ear canals obtained using this low-noise and robust system will then be compared to those obtained using existing methods.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $321,147 )
2023	2023	RESEARCH FOUNDATION FOR THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK, THE	4400 VESTAL PKWY E	BINGHAMTON	NY	13902	BROOME	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	5	2/18/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$321,147
														Subtotal = $321,147

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $321,147 )
2022	2022	RESEARCH FOUNDATION FOR THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK, THE	4400 VESTAL PKWY E	BINGHAMTON	NY	13902	BROOME	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	4	2/23/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$289,031
2022	2022	RESEARCH FOUNDATION FOR THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK, THE	4400 VESTAL PKWY E	BINGHAMTON	NY	13902	BROOME	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	001	4	4/21/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$32,116
														Subtotal = $321,147

Issue Date FY: 2021 ( Subtotal = $295,902 )
2021	2021	RESEARCH FOUNDATION FOR THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK, THE	4400 VESTAL PKWY E	BINGHAMTON	NY	13902	BROOME	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	3	2/25/2021	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$295,902
														Subtotal = $295,902

Issue Date FY: 2020 ( Subtotal = $296,241 )
2020	2020	RESEARCH FOUNDATION FOR THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK, THE	4400 VESTAL PKWY E	BINGHAMTON	NY	13902	BROOME	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	2	2/28/2020	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$296,241
														Subtotal = $296,241

Issue Date FY: 2019 ( Subtotal = $309,812 )
2019	2019	RESEARCH FOUNDATION FOR THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK, THE	4400 VESTAL PKWY E	BINGHAMTON	NY	13902	BROOME	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	001	1	5/2/2019	NEW	$40,676
2019	2019	RESEARCH FOUNDATION FOR THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK, THE	4400 VESTAL PKWY E	BINGHAMTON	NY	13902	BROOME	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	1	3/2/2019	NEW	$269,136
														Subtotal = $309,812

Grand Total All Awards = $1,544,249

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Capacitive Pressure/Velocity Probe for Acoustic Measurements in the Human Ear Canal

Award Number: R01DC017720

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DEAFNESS AND OTHER COMMUNICATION DISORDERS

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

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