A 7-year-old patient complains of mild hearing loss and intermittent ear pain. During the assessment, the medical assistant is asked to assist with tympanometry. What is the purpose of performing tympanometry in this patient's evaluation?
To clean the external auditory canal by flushing out earwax accumulation and debris
To measure the acoustic reflexes of the cochlea and auditory nerve by presenting a series of pure-tone stimuli
To assess the integrity and motility of the eardrum and the air pressure in the middle ear, which can indicate the presence of fluid, infection, or Eustachian tube dysfunction
To directly visualize the middle ear and assess for the presence of middle ear tumors or abnormal bone growth