Wide Band Tympanometry as an indicator of Aural Fullness
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Wide Band Tympanometry as an indicator of Aural Fullness
IRAS ID
145840
Contact name
John S Phillips
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
NORFOLK AND NORWICH UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS NHS FOUNDATION TRUST
Research summary
Wide-band Tympanometry (WBT) is a non-invasive test that has an as of yet unknown clinical potential. It is a modified version of standard tympanometry that has been used for many years as a diagnostic tool for diagnosing middle ear disease. With WBT, patients have a probe put in their ear which emits a sound-wave at a variety of frequencies. This technique is safe, rapid, painless and simple to perform. It is hoped that WBT will provide data that will be useful in diagnosing a variety of middle ear conditions.
A common symptom at presentation in the ENT department is ‘aural fullness’. This is the subjective sensation of a blocked or ‘full’ ear. This is most often accompanied by a completely normal examination and conventional tympanogram.
We aim to assess if patients with aural fullness have a measurable middle ear abnormality on WBT compared to normative data. This will help to determine if patients with aural fullness are a group who have evidence of a common middle ear pathology as compared with patients who are symptom free.REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Leeds East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/YH/1058
Date of REC Opinion
27 Jun 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion