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Current medical instrumentation research at InterScience, Inc. is aimed at utilizing state of the art electro-optics in the development of a diagnostic fiber optic instrument capable of quantifying vibration patterns in real time. This work is in collaboration with the Division of Otolaryngology of the Albany Medical College. The innovative diagnostic probe system design involves the miniaturization of an electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI) system through the use of fiber optic elements coupled with high speed image acquisition from a solid state matrix detector. Subsequent frame by frame processing produces a high quality three-dimensional spatial representation of the vibrational pattern. The diagnostic probe system is being developed for quantitative tympanic membrane and vocal cord vibration analysis. The significance of the introduction of this instrument to the medical community is the contribution it could make in the efficiency and effectiveness of the diagnosis of otolaryngological disorders. Specific applications include the evaluation of tympanosclerosis, stiffness related middle ear disorders, ossicular chain abnormalities, tympanic membrane replacement, vocal dysphonias, and early detection of laryngeal carcinomas, cysts, and phenomenological properties of mucosal wave dynamics. The current instrumentation research is focused on the production of a prototype system for clinical trials. This research is based in ESPI optical system development and miniaturization, system hardware and software development, and clinical design of the probe heads within anatomical limitations. Significant advantages of this diagnostic tool over currently used instrumentation and procedures are the real time capabilities of the instrument, the ability to quantify the vibrational pattern in time and space, and the possibility of establishing a database of patient history and disorder characteristics. Once fully developed and integrated into the clinical environment, this system will have a profound effect on the diagnostic capabilities of the otolaryngologist and other clinicians and researchers of communication sciences and disorders.
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