A full-size physical model of the human middle ear

The full-size physical model is an artificial representation of relevant elements of the human middle ear. It mainly serves as a measuring object for developing three-dimensional measuring techniques. With its help the applicability of measurement instrumentation can be judged prior to measuring rear ears. The physical model is mainly oriented by the basic anatomical properties of the natural human middle ear. It comprises the tympanic membrane, the auditory ossicles and three ligaments. The structure of the model is described in detail. Its characteristics are determined and are compared with predictions of circuit models and temporal bone measurements. The physical model reproduces the basic characteristics of a real human middle ear relatively accurately also in terms of three-dimensional effects. It is hardly subject to temporal changes and does not noticeably depend on temperature or humidity. After manipulations it is possible to re-establish a certain state of the model fairly accurately. These properties make the physical model a multi-purpose device that can be utilized in further fields of application. Some representative examples are specified.