The Touma ENT Museum contains more than 2,000 historical artifacts, collected over nearly 50 years, that illustrate the progression of Ear, Nose & Throat Medicine over a period of nearly 300 years.

Ear trumpets came in all shapes, sizes and construction materials. In addition to helping people hear better, they often tended to be a reflection of the owner's style and social class.

Over many years, the design of ear trumpets changed in an effort to better funnel sound and drive it into the ear. One such example of this evolution is the London Dome ear trumpet.

As the ear trumpet evolved, a need arose to create smaller devices that could be used in a hands-free manner. These binaural trumpets were usually held in place by a band, and are the predecessors to today's modern ear piece devices.

With the evolution of the otoscope over the past 250 years, each new device seemed to build upon the accomplishments of the other, adding improvements to either access, lighting or magnification.

Head mirrors and headlights evolved in an effort to free up the physician's hands for purposes other than holding a light source. Over the history of these devices, many different versions of them were produced.

In the earliest days of ENT medicine, physicians would focus ambient light to help them illuminate the structures of the ear, nose and throat. Over time, devices were created to help physicians focus light from a variety of sources, including candles, alcohol and kerosene lamps, hard-wired bulbs and battery power.

Over the history of ENT medicine, hundreds of different instruments were created to serve specific purposes, including testing hearing, conducting surgery and cleaning the structures of the ears, nose and throat.

Sharing discoveries in ENT medicine and training the next generations of ENT physicians required the frequent publication of detailed textbooks, containg accurate illustrations of the anatomy of the ears nose and throat. The TOUMA ENT Museum contains more than 800 volumes of ENT textbooks, published over a period of nearly 300 years.