Multisine excitation enables frequency dense OCT-vibrometry for middle ear mechanics

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) vibrometry enables noninvasive, high-resolution measurement of tissue motion with nanometer sensitivity. However, ex vivo measurements are limited by postmortem changes, and in vivo recordings are susceptible to patient motion artifacts. Therefore, accelerating OCT vibrometry acquisition is essential for advancing both fundamental research and clinical applications. To address this challenge, we introduce multisine OCT vibrometry. Using multisine stimulation, a single OCT dataset captures displacement information across a broad frequency range. Here, we present frequency-dependent displacement data for rubber membranes and rabbit eardrums. The multisine dataset results are consistent with pure-tone validation measurements. Furthermore, the multisine datasets offer insights into the relative mobility of the rubber membrane and eardrum samples, underscoring their potential for tissue characterization and diagnosis. Our findings demonstrate that multisine OCT vibrometry reduces acquisition, processing, and visualization time without compromising accuracy. This approach enables dense OCT data collection and represents a significant advancement toward rapid, reliable clinical assessment of middle ear mechanics.