Advanced Methodology for Damping Characterization of the Human Tympanic Membrane Using High-Speed Digital Holographic and STFT Analysis

Advanced Methodology for Damping Characterization of the Human Tympanic Membrane Using High-Speed Digital Holographic and STFT Analysis | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Advanced Methodology for Damping Characterization of the Human Tympanic Membrane Using High-Speed Digital Holographic and STFT Analysis L. F. Caminos, J. Garcia-Manrique, Jeffrey T. Cheng, A. Gonzalez-Herrera This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7629544/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 11 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study presents an experimental methodology for estimating frequency-dependent damping in the human tympanic membrane (TM) using full-field time-domain holographic measurements and Short-Time Fourier Transform (STFT) analysis. Although damping plays a critical role in middle-ear mechanics, its experimental estimation remains challenging, with reported values exhibiting substantial variability. A high-speed digital holography (HDH) system is employed to capture transient displacement fields of the TM surface from cadaveric human temporal bones subjected to acoustic click excitation. The proposed methodology enables the analysis of damping as a function of frequency by isolating free-vibration decay in the time–frequency domain, overcoming limitations of conventional time-domain techniques in systems with multiple overlapping modes. The results reveal a clear frequency dependence of effective system-level damping and its spatial variation across the membrane, as well as the influence of ossicular chain loading. This approach offers a practical framework for extracting damping information from HDH experiments. The methodology provides robust damping values relevant for improving the calibration and validation of finite element models of middle-ear mechanics. Physical sciences/Engineering Physical sciences/Optics and photonics Physical sciences/Physics Tympanic membrane damping High-speed digital holographic Short-Time Fourier Transform Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 23 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 23 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 19 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 01 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 19 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 19 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 16 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 13 Feb, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 12 Feb, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 12 Feb, 2026 First submitted to journal 11 Feb, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7629544","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":609137005,"identity":"8af31bde-313f-45ad-b120-f6e8bcc9ca75","order_by":0,"name":"L. F. Caminos","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Malaga","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"L.","middleName":"F.","lastName":"Caminos","suffix":""},{"id":609137006,"identity":"3260611e-ec1e-46ae-95a1-3d3e577c13f1","order_by":1,"name":"J. Garcia-Manrique","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAtklEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACxgYILUe6FmPSbUtsIFopc3v7w4dfc2zSN1w7/IDhwx9iHNZzxthYdlta7obbaQaMM9uI0TIjh01actthoJYEA2ZeYpzHOCP9+W+glnSD2+kfmP8Q5bAZCWaMH7cdTjC4nWPAzMBGjBagX6QZt6UZzrydU3Cwlxi/GAJD7OPPbTbyfLfTNz74QYzDDBuAAc0D5RwgQgMDgzzIcT+IUjoKRsEoGAUjFgAAiac7GrcLgvcAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"University of Malaga","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"J.","middleName":"","lastName":"Garcia-Manrique","suffix":""},{"id":609137007,"identity":"6f180888-9c7d-4889-9bd3-c1d965ef5172","order_by":2,"name":"Jeffrey T. Cheng","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Massachusetts Eye and Ear","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jeffrey","middleName":"T.","lastName":"Cheng","suffix":""},{"id":609137009,"identity":"341c73c1-b96a-438d-bc8e-157d62193ebb","order_by":3,"name":"A. Gonzalez-Herrera","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Malaga","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"A.","middleName":"","lastName":"Gonzalez-Herrera","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-09-16 10:53:34","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7629544/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7629544/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":105564142,"identity":"840949b5-5793-4f63-822a-e90046a38e18","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-27 12:48:51","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1292753,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"PaperAdvancedDampingMiddleEarSciReport110226Last.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7629544/v1_covered_75e1780c-d498-4203-8e67-fc49c6a3c791.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Advanced Methodology for Damping Characterization of the Human Tympanic Membrane Using High-Speed Digital Holographic and STFT Analysis","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Tympanic membrane, damping, High-speed digital holographic, Short-Time Fourier Transform","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7629544/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7629544/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"This study presents an experimental methodology for estimating frequency-dependent damping in the human tympanic membrane (TM) using full-field time-domain holographic measurements and Short-Time Fourier Transform (STFT) analysis. Although damping plays a critical role in middle-ear mechanics, its experimental estimation remains challenging, with reported values exhibiting substantial variability.\nA high-speed digital holography (HDH) system is employed to capture transient displacement fields of the TM surface from cadaveric human temporal bones subjected to acoustic click excitation. The proposed methodology enables the analysis of damping as a function of frequency by isolating free-vibration decay in the time–frequency domain, overcoming limitations of conventional time-domain techniques in systems with multiple overlapping modes. The results reveal a clear frequency dependence of effective system-level damping and its spatial variation across the membrane, as well as the influence of ossicular chain loading. This approach offers a practical framework for extracting damping information from HDH experiments. The methodology provides robust damping values relevant for improving the calibration and validation of finite element models of middle-ear mechanics.","manuscriptTitle":"Advanced Methodology for Damping Characterization of the Human Tympanic Membrane Using High-Speed Digital Holographic and STFT Analysis","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-03-23 12:13:28","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7629544/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2026-03-23T09:17:32+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-03-23T08:10:34+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-03-19T22:43:08+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-03-01T07:20:15+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"270934062529758060741135313303397441253","date":"2026-02-19T13:28:17+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"13544239142958086477819957816929261918","date":"2026-02-19T12:21:59+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"221411231557634329619833151491080775952","date":"2026-02-16T12:02:38+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"337893123546601823351696136331742232508","date":"2026-02-13T15:48:24+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2026-02-12T12:26:56+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2026-02-12T10:52:29+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Scientific Reports","date":"2026-02-11T21:10:46+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"02db7215-ae06-4806-903d-553f0a83f97e","owner":[],"postedDate":"March 23rd, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":64817869,"name":"Physical sciences/Engineering"},{"id":64817870,"name":"Physical sciences/Optics and photonics"},{"id":64817871,"name":"Physical sciences/Physics"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-22T07:41:28+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-03-23 12:13:28","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7629544","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7629544","identity":"rs-7629544","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}