Supplementary Material to the PhD Thesis "Microscopic investigations of the fiber architecture of the human tympanic membrane"

Steuer, Svea

Supplementary Material to the PhD Thesis "Microscopic investigations of the fiber architecture of the human tympanic membrane"

Type of the data datacite.resourceTypeGeneral	Image
Type of the data datacite.resourceTypeGeneral	Dataset
Total size of the dataset datacite.size	99557770066
Author dc.contributor.author	Steuer, Svea
Upload date dc.date.accessioned	2025-10-07T12:47:38Z
Publication date dc.date.available	2025-10-07T12:47:38Z
Publication date dc.date.issued	2025-10-07
Abstract of the dataset dc.description.abstract	The Supplementary Material to the PhD Thesis "Microscopic investigations of the fiber architecture of the human tympanic membrane" contains volumetric raw data and additional videos and images which were created in the course of ex vivo investigations on human tympanic membranes with various optical imaging methods, i.e., polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT), second harmonic generation microscopy (SHG) and polarized light microscopy (PLM). Chapter 5 of the dissertation provides a detailed description of the investigations.
Public reference to this page dc.identifier.uri	https://opara.zih.tu-dresden.de/handle/123456789/1571
Public reference to this page dc.identifier.uri	https://doi.org/10.25532/OPARA-891
Publisher dc.publisher	Technische Universität Dresden
Licence dc.rights	Attribution 4.0 International	en
URI of the licence text dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Specification of the discipline(s) dc.subject.classification	2::22::205::205-29
Specification of the discipline(s) dc.subject.classification	3::32::308::308-01
Title of the dataset dc.title	Supplementary Material to the PhD Thesis "Microscopic investigations of the fiber architecture of the human tympanic membrane"
Project abstract opara.project.description	Hearing is an integral component of our daily lives, in particular for communication and social interaction. Hearing loss, in contrast, can result in a considerable disability that significantly impairs quality of life. The early and reliable detection of middle ear pathologies is of increasing importance as the prevalence of hearing loss rises. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an interferometric imaging modality with the potential to revolutionize the non-invasive diagnostic capabilities in otology. The method is based on capturing the near-infrared light that is back-scattered from a sample and provides depth-resolved, cross-sectional or volumetric intensity visualizations. With respect to middle ear diagnostics, OCT has been proved to be applicable for acquiring depth-resolved, real-time images of the tympanic membrane (TM) and middle ear. Phase-sensitive variants can be utilized to quantify sound-induced vibrations for functional assessment. Yet the microscopic collagen architecture that governs TM mechanics and thus its physical condition has remained largely inaccessible in vivo. This thesis demonstrates polarization-sensitive OCT (PS-OCT) as a viable, clinically adaptable solution. PS-OCT exploits the complementary information obtained from the birefringent properties of a sample to resolve the associated microscopic structure. In the first part, a conventional PS-OCT system was employed for measurements on ex vivo temporal bone samples. In contrast to cumulative representations, a simplified local reconstruction delivered depth-resolved apparent birefringence and optic axis orientation with low computational effort. With this, layers with different fiber orientations became distinguishable. This revealed the TM's stratified organization. The validity of the findings was confirmed through their relation to and comparison with second harmonic generation microscopy and polarized light microscopy imaging. The inter-modal correspondence was compelling. The second part focused on the translational aspect. An endoscopic OCT system, which has been used for examinations in the clinical setting, was adapted by substituting its detector with a polarization-diverse balanced receiver. Measurements on a healthy volunteer were obtained by using this extended system. The first in vivo acquired PS-OCT volumes of the TM were generated. Despite the presence of shortcomings such as the polarization distribution across the field of view due to the GRIN optics used and the lower axial resolution compared to the ex vivo system, resolving the stratification in areas of greater thickness of the TM was feasible. In addition, artificial intelligence has been leveraged for automatic structure identification and segmentation in OCT intensity volumes of 43 healthy and pathological ears as part of an interdisciplinary project. The resulting publicly released labeled dataset is aimed at accelerating the development of algorithms for prospective assisted diagnostics. By adding the capability of tissue differentiation, facilitating abnormality identification and enabling further fundamental research regarding developmental and pathological processes, as well as bio-engineering attempts, PS-OCT potentially extends and advances the current middle ear diagnostics.
Project title opara.project.title	Microscopic investigations of the fiber architecture of the human tympanic membrane