An audiometer is a specialized instrument used to evaluate hearing ability and diagnose hearing loss in individuals of all ages. It functions by generating specific sound frequencies and intensities, which are presented to the patient through headphones or speakers. The primary purpose of an audiometer is to assess the auditory threshold, helping audiologists and healthcare providers determine the type and degree of hearing impairment.
Audiometers come in various types, including portable models for field testing and more sophisticated, computer-based systems for clinical environments. The basic components of an audiometer include a tone generator, an amplifier, a headphone jack, and controls for adjusting frequency and intensity levels. The device can produce pure tones, speech signals, and various other sound stimuli to evaluate different aspects of hearing.
During a standard audiometric test, the patient wears headphones and listens for tones at different frequencies, typically ranging from 250 Hz to 8000 Hz. The audiologist instructs the patient to signal when they hear a sound, either by raising a hand or pressing a button. The responses are recorded on an audiogram, a graphical representation that charts the patient’s hearing sensitivity across the tested frequencies. The results of an audiometric evaluation help classify hearing loss into categories such as conductive, sensorineural, or mixed.
Conductive hearing loss occurs when sound is not effectively conducted through the outer ear canal to the eardrum and the tiny bones of the middle ear. Sensorineural hearing loss results from damage to the inner ear or the auditory nerve pathways, while mixed hearing loss involves a combination of both conductive and sensorineural components.
Audiometers can also perform additional tests, such as speech audiometry, which evaluates the ability to understand speech at different volume levels. This test is often critical for determining the functional impact of hearing loss on communication abilities.
By presenting words or sentences at various intensity levels, audiologists can assess a patient's speech recognition thresholds and word discrimination scores.
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