Figure 3. Ciliary motion measured from adult gerbils.

A: Three representative waveforms of spontaneous ciliary motion measured from three different ciliated cells near the pharyngeal opening using a photodiode-based displacement measurement system. Different patterns of responses with different frequencies and magnitudes were observed. B: The power spectra of cilia motion. The spectra represent five averages (in the frequency domain) of spontaneous ciliary response acquired in a four-second window in each trial. C: Means and SDs of ciliary beat frequency. The responses were measured from 15 ciliated cells in the cartilage and osseous portion of the ET from five animals. For comparison, ciliary motion was also measured from 12 ciliated cells in the airway of three adult gerbils. No statistical difference (p>0.05) of the beat frequency was found among ciliated cells in the different regions.