Automated Method for Measurement of Hearing Sensitivity

描述（由申请人提供）：在美国，每年有数百万人因各种原因进行听力测试，包括耳部疾病的诊断、交流功能的评估、噪音和耳毒性药物的监测效果、前瞻性研究和助听器的配装。虽然有一个“标准”的听力测试方法，但规则定义模糊，遵循松散。本项目旨在测试和完善一种测试听力灵敏度（AMTAS）的自动化方法。AMTAS旨在实现与专业听力学家获得的测试结果相似的测试结果，同时标准化方法，消除错误，提高效率，降低成本。该方法保留了常规听力学的显著特征，同时应用了广为接受的听觉心理物理学原理。当测试信号在非测试耳中可听到时，向非测试耳提供对侧掩蔽。除了自动化刺激的顺序和时间外，该方法还提供质量指标，提醒听力学家由于患者因素或不适当的掩体水平而产生的潜在错误。在这个第二阶段的项目中，第一阶段开发的原型将在三个临床环境中对正常和听力受损的受试者进行广泛的测试。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Every year millions of hearing tests are conducted in the U.S. for a variety of reasons, including diagnosis of ear disease, evaluation of communicative function, monitoring effects of noise and ototoxic medications, prospective research studies, and fitting of hearing aids. Although there is a =standard" hearing test method, the rules are vaguely defined and loosely followed. This project is designed to test and refine an automated method for testing hearing sensitivity (AMTAS). AMTAS is designed to achieve similar test results to those obtained by expert audiologists while standardizing the method, eliminating errors, increasing efficiency, and decreasing cost. The method preserves the salient features of routine audiometry while applying well-accepted principles of auditory psychophysics. Contralateral masking is presented to the non-test ear whenever the test signal may be audible in that ear. In addition to automating the sequence and timing of stimuli, the method provides quality indicators that alert the audiologist to potential errors due to patient factors or inappropriate masker levels. In this Phase II project, the prototype developed in Phase I will be tested on a wide range of normal and hearing-impaired subjects in three clinical settings.