Audiometry is the measurement of hearing function. Several different audiometry tests, performed by an audiologist, may be required. These tests are carried out in a sound-treated room with a set of head-phones which also allow voice contact with the audiologist through a microphone. Some of the possible hearing tests include:
- Audiometry is the measurement of hearing function. Several different audiometry tests, performed by an audiologist, may be required. These tests are carried out in a sound-treated room with a set of head-phones which also allow voice contact with the audiologist through a microphone. Some of the possible hearing tests include:
- Pure tone audiometry, where a response is requested when sounds are heard of different pitches through the headphones.
- Speech audiometry tests, including speech reception threshold and word recognition (sometimes referred to as speech discrimination), where the repetition or recognition of words is requested as they are presented at different intensities.
- Tympanometry helps detect the presence of fluid in the middle ear, among other problems, by examining the function of the middle ear and Eustachian tube, including the stiffness of the eardrum, when air-pressure changes are imposed through a soft probe that is inserted into the external ear canal.
- Acoustic-reflex testing measures the reflex of the stapes (one of the tiny bones of the middle ear) caused by the response of the stapedius muscle when the ear is subjected to a loud sound.
- Electrocochleography (ECoG) measures how sound signals move from the ear along the beginning of the hearing nerve.
- Otoacoustic emissions (OAE) testing provides information about how the hair cells of the cochlea are working by measuring the responsiveness of hair cells in the cochlea to a series of clicks produced by a tiny speaker inserted into the ear canal.
- An auditory brainstem response test (ABR; also known as BER, BSER, or BAER) measures how hearing signals travel from the ear to the brain and then within parts of the brain. Under certain circumstances, this test can indicate the presence of a rare, benign tumor of the vestibulo-cochlear nerve called an acoustic neuroma. It may also help identify conditions such as multiple sclerosis if they have affected the auditory pathway to the brain.
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