Scanning laser vibrometry applied to the biomechanical study of a small auditory system.

This paper describes the application of the well-known scanning laser interferometric technique (1,2,3) to the vibration measurement of small objects. The technique has been optimised to measure small biological specimens, in which sizes can range from 100 mu m to 10 mm, but proves to be also suitable for vibrational studies on micromechanical systems. In the field of sensory physiology, it is here applied to the investigation of the biomechanical properties of small tympanal systems. Some results are briefly presented.