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An audiometer is a machine used for evaluating hearing acuity. They usually consist of an embedded hardware unit connected to a pair of
The most common type of audiometer generates pure tones, or transmits parts of speech.
Another kind of audiometer is the Bekesy audiometer, in which the subject follows a tone of increasing and decreasing amplitude as the tone is swept through the frequency range by depressing a button when the tone is heard and releasing it when it cannot be heard, crossing back and forth over the threshold of hearing. Bekesy audiometry typically yields lower thresholds and standard deviations than pure tone audiometry.
National Physical Laboratory
Guidelines on Audiometric Calibration * {{MedlinePlusEncyclopedia, 003341 Hearing Audiology
An audiometer is a machine used for evaluating hearing acuity. They usually consist of an embedded hardware unit connected to a pair of headphones
Headphones are a pair of small Electrodynamic speaker driver, loudspeaker drivers worn on or around the head over a user's ears. They are electroacoustics (acoustical engineering), electroacoustic transducers, which convert an electrical signa ...
and a test subject feedback button, sometimes controlled by a standard PC. Such systems can also be used with bone vibrators, to test conductive hearing mechanisms.
Audiometers are standard equipment at ENT (ear, nose, throat) clinics and in audiology
Audiology (from Latin , "to hear"; and from Greek , ''-logia'') is a branch of science that studies hearing, balance, and related disorders. Audiologists treat those with hearing loss and proactively prevent related damage. By employing various ...
centers.
An alternative to hardware audiometers are software audiometers, which are available in many different configurations.
Screening PC-based audiometers use a standard computer.
Clinical PC-based audiometers are generally more expensive than software audiometers, but are much more accurate and efficient. They are most commonly used in hospitals, audiology centers and research communities. These audiometers are also used to conduct industrial audiometric testing. Some audiometers even provide a software developer's kit that provides researchers with the capability to create their own diagnostic tests.
Functionality
An audiometer typically transmits recorded sounds such as pure tones or speech to the headphones of the test subject at varying frequencies and intensities, and records the subject's responses to produce anaudiogram
An audiogram is a graph that shows the audible threshold for standardized frequencies as measured by an audiometer. The Y axis represents intensity measured in decibels and the X axis represents frequency measured in hertz. The threshold of hear ...
of threshold sensitivity, or speech understanding profile.
Types
Medical grade audiometers are usually an embedded hardware unit controlled from a PC. Software audiometers which run on a PC are also commercially available, but their accuracy and utility for evaluating hearing loss is questionable due to lack of a calibration standard.
The most common type of audiometer generates pure tones, or transmits parts of speech.
Another kind of audiometer is the Bekesy audiometer, in which the subject follows a tone of increasing and decreasing amplitude as the tone is swept through the frequency range by depressing a button when the tone is heard and releasing it when it cannot be heard, crossing back and forth over the threshold of hearing. Bekesy audiometry typically yields lower thresholds and standard deviations than pure tone audiometry.
Standards
Audiometer requirements and the test procedure are specified inIEC
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC; in French: ''Commission électrotechnique internationale'') is an international standards organization that prepares and publishes international standards for all electrical, electronic and r ...
60645, ISO
ISO is the most common abbreviation for the International Organization for Standardization.
ISO or Iso may also refer to: Business and finance
* Iso (supermarket), a chain of Danish supermarkets incorporated into the SuperBest chain in 2007
* Is ...
8253, and ANSI
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI ) is a private non-profit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States. The organi ...
isoS3.6 standards.
See also
*Audiology
Audiology (from Latin , "to hear"; and from Greek , ''-logia'') is a branch of science that studies hearing, balance, and related disorders. Audiologists treat those with hearing loss and proactively prevent related damage. By employing various ...
*Audiogram
An audiogram is a graph that shows the audible threshold for standardized frequencies as measured by an audiometer. The Y axis represents intensity measured in decibels and the X axis represents frequency measured in hertz. The threshold of hear ...
*Audiometry
Audiometry () is a branch of audiology and the science of measuring hearing acuity for variations in sound intensity and pitch and for tonal purity, involving thresholds and differing frequencies. Typically, audiometric tests determine a subj ...
* Hearing test
* Pure tone audiometry
References
*IEC 60645-1. (November 19, 2001) "Audiometers. Pure-tone audiometers". *BS EN ISO 389 (1997) "Acoustics. Standard reference zero for the calibration of pure tone air conduction audiometers" *BS EN 60318-6 (2008) "Electroacoustics. Simulators of human head and ear. Mechanical coupler for the measurement of bone vibrators"External links
National Physical Laboratory
Guidelines on Audiometric Calibration * {{MedlinePlusEncyclopedia, 003341 Hearing Audiology