Coherent Optical Detection of Middle Ear Disease (OCTII)

January 20, 2026 updated by: Matthew Maksimoski, Medical College of Wisconsin

Otitis Media Diagnosis and Treatment: Coherent Optical Detection of Middle Ear Disease

The purpose of this project is to see if optical coherence tomography (OCT), a new technology acting as an ultrasound for the ear, facilitates accurately diagnosing acute otitis media (AOM) and otitis media with effusion (OME) in children. Clinical diagnoses made using solely otoscopy will be compared to those made with the addition of OCT.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Otitis media (OM) is the most common diagnosis in pediatric patients seen for illness in the United States, affects 90% of all children, and is the most common indication for antimicrobial therapy and surgery in young children. Despite many attempts to improve diagnosis, treatment, and prevention, OM continues its highly prevalent impact on children and substantial ongoing morbidity. OM continues as the most common cause of hearing loss in children and leads to speech, educational and other developmental delays. OM causes life-threatening complications and is expensive, resulting in over $5 billion annually in U.S. health care expenditures. Despite the prevalence and difficulties with OM, diagnostic accuracy to allow appropriate treatment is lacking, leading to misplaced resources in treating OM. This proposal builds on our central hypothesis that enhanced diagnostic tools, specifically, optical coherence tomography (OCT), will yield improved diagnosis and lead to reduced need for antibiotics to treat acute OM, reduced surgical interventions for chronic otitis media, and overall fewer complications and cost associated with this disease. In this proposal, the investigators will explore three specific aims. The first aim, part A, the investigators will perform a comparative assessment of middle ear pathology using otoscopy and OCT in pediatric patients that present to a primary care clinic with complaints of otalgia or OM, with the hypothesis that OCT added to standard otoscopy will improve diagnostic accuracy and reduce overall antibiotic prescriptions. In part B of this aim, a comparative assessment of middle ear pathology using otoscopy along with audiometry/tympanometry and OCT will be performed in pediatric patients that present to the pediatric otolaryngology clinic with a referral for chronic otitis media with effusion (OME), with the hypothesis that OCT added to standard otoscopy and audiometry/tympanometry will improve diagnostic accuracy and reduce overall need for surgery in patients with OME. In the second aim, using the OCT images captured in the previous aim, the investigators will develop image processing and machine learning algorithms for automated identification of effusions and biofilms in OCT image data to augment OM diagnosis for medical decision making. Finally, using the OCT images captured previously, along with our machine learning algorithms, the investigators will establish OCT B-mode and M-mode image-based features that predict the resolution or persistence of middle ear effusions over time. Collectively, this project will demonstrate how these advances in diagnostic tools and algorithms will improve diagnosis and provide added information for clinical decision making in the management of OM.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
235

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.
  • Name: Roxanne Link, APNP
  • Phone Number: 414-266-3760
  • Email: rlink@mcw.edu

Study Contact Backup

  • Name: Christy Erbe
  • Phone Number: 414-955-2670
  • Email: cerbe@mcw.edu

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Wisconsin
      • Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, United States, 53226
        • Recruiting
        • Children's Wisconsin ENT Clinic
        • Contact:
      • Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, United States, 53226
        • Recruiting
        • Children's Wisconsin Urgent Care Clinics
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

6 months to 6 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Parental complaint of ear infection or ear pain (Children's Wisconsin Urgent Care Clinics) OR referred for evaluation of otitis media with effusion (Children's Wisconsin ENT Clinic)
  • Speak English

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Children with craniofacial abnormalities
  • Children with diagnosed immunologic abnormalities
  • Children with congenital syndromic conditions
  • Current open and functioning ear tubes

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Diagnostic
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Children's Wisconsin Urgent Care Clinics
Subjects will receive a standard-of-care otoscopy examination, followed by a research-only examination using an OCT device (PCT).
Diagnostic test: OCT Device(s)
Results from standard-of-care examinations will be compared to research-only examination(s) (OCT device(s)).
No Intervention: Children's Wisconsin (Effusion in 0 or 1 ear)
Subjects will only receive a standard-of-care otoscopy examination.
Experimental: Children's Wisconsin (Effusion in 2 ears)
Subjects will receive standard-of-care ear and hearing examinations (otoscopy and audiometry/tympanometry), followed by research-only examinations using two OCT devices (UIUC OCT and PCT).
Diagnostic test: OCT Device(s)
Results from standard-of-care examinations will be compared to research-only examination(s) (OCT device(s)).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Children's Wisconsin ENT Clinic Analysis (Research Devices Diagnosis)
Time Frame: 5 years
The investigators will look at the percentage of patients that receive the decision for surgical intervention after the addition of research-only OCT devices.
5 years
Children's Wisconsin Urgent Care Analysis (Research Device Diagnosis)
Time Frame: 5 years
The investigators will look at the percentage of patients that receive the decision for antibiotic prescriptions after the addition of a research-only OCT device.
5 years
Children's Wisconsin Urgent Care Clinic Analysis (Standard-of-Care Diagnosis)
Time Frame: 5 years
The investigators will look at the percentage of patients that receive the decision for antibiotic prescriptions using only a standard-of-care examination (otoscopy) (prior to addition of a research-only OCT device).
5 years
Children's Wisconsin ENT Clinic Analysis (Standard-of-Care Diagnosis)
Time Frame: 5 years
The investigators will look at the percentage of patients that receive the decision for surgical intervention using only standard-of-care examinations (otoscopy, audiometry/tympanometry) (prior to addition of research-only OCT devices).
5 years

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Medical College of Wisconsin

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Joseph Kerschner, MD, Medical College of Wisconsin

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
May 24, 2022

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
April 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
April 1, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
April 24, 2022

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
April 28, 2022

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
April 29, 2022

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
January 21, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
January 20, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 46057
  • 1R01DC019412-01A1 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

Yes

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

Yes

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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