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Poster

Visualizing and injecting the tympanic membrane in guinea pigs using a rigid endoscope or an otoscope

September 23, 2024
ASR 2024 -- Guinea pigs are a commonly used research model for hearing studies. Hearing studies are aimed to determine the ototoxic potential of otic medications in guinea pigs by examining the effects of tympanic membrane injections on hearing function and cochlear histopathology. The normal function of the cochlea and auditory pathways are assessed for results after sustaining noise exposure damage, ototoxic drug treatment, etc. The biggest challenges of this procedure are visualizing the tympanic membrane, which can be done with a rigid endoscope or an otoscope with a small speculum attachment, and then visualizing the needle within the field of view of the camera or speculum. Both techniques are viable ways to visualize the tympanic membrane, but which is the most efficient when also inserting a needle and syringe to inject into the tympanic membrane?