Lucae's Springy Pressure Probe to Mobilize the Ossicular Chain: Rise and Fall of an Ingenious Instrument.

Objectives/Hypotheses: In 1884, Johann Constantin August Lucae (1835-1911), a German otologist from Berlin, introduced a new "method to mechanically treat chronic troubles of the mobility of the hearing organ transmission apparatus." It consisted in the use of a springy pressure probe to directly mobilize the handle of the malleus. The aim of this study is to trace the invention, clinical use, technological modifications, and ultimate extinction of this instrument. Method: Review of Lucae's publications, comments by his colleagues, and trade catalogues published between 1880 and 1940. Results: Lucae presented at least six different models of his springy pressure probe during his career. Some of his colleagues modified it. The success rate was much disputed, and the instrument died with Lucae. Conclusion: Lucae's spring pressure probe is another example of the ingenuity of man to try to find a solution when confronted with an unclear and unresolved otological problem. Copyright (C) 2017 by Otology & Neurotology, Inc. Image copyright (C) 2010 Wolters Kluwer Health/Anatomical Chart Company

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