In-Office Tympanostomy Tube Placement in Children (OTTER)

The objective of this study is to evaluate effectiveness and safety of tympanostomy tube (TT) placement in children following local anesthesia in a physician's clinic setting (henceforth referred to as 'in-office'). Local anesthesia using Tymbion, a lidocaine-based anesthetic, is delivered by the Tula Iontophoresis System (IPS) and TT placement is implemented by the Tula Tube Delivery System (TDS). The IPS will be used to facilitate anesthetic delivery to the tympanic membrane (TM). The Iontophoresis System consists of an Iontophoresis Control Unit, Iontophoresis Earsets and a return electrode patch. The Control Unit monitors and delivers a fixed amount of charge (ie, dose) to the patient through the Earsets(s) and alerts the operator when charge delivery is complete. The lidocaine-based solution used for local anesthesia of the TM is Tymbion (2% lidocaine HCl/ 1:100,000 epinephrine). The TDS is a mechanical device that integrates a myringotomy blade, tympanostomy tube and tube inserter for TT placement with a user-controlled activation. The study will use the TDS with a grommet-type tube. This pivotal study will include up to 422 children ages 6 months through 12 years indicated for tympanostomy tube placement enrolled at approximately 15 to 25 investigational centers in the US and Canada. The pivotal cohort consists of 222 subjects. In addition, up to 100 subjects will be enrolled as lead-in procedures in the OR using the TDS and up to 100 subjects will be enrolled as lead-in procedure in-office (using IPS and TDS) as the surgeons' initial experience with the technology prior to enrolling into the pivotal cohort. All pivotal and lead-in subjects will follow the same study protocol assessments and visit schedule consisting of a screening visit, procedure visit and 3-week, 6 month, 12 month, 18 month, and 24 month post-procedure follow-up visits. Lead-in procedures will be analyzed separately from the pivotal pediatric cohort.