Automated Method for Measurement of Hearing Sensitivity

描述（由申请人提供）：每年，美国都会进行数百万次听力测试，原因多种多样，包括耳部疾病的诊断、沟通功能的评估、监测噪音和耳毒性药物的影响、前瞻性研究以及助听器的安装。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。该项目旨在测试和完善一种自动化听力灵敏度测试方法（AMTAS）。AMTAS旨在实现与专家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，提高效率并降低成本。该方法保留了常规测听的显著特征，同时应用了公认的听觉心理物理学原理。每当测试信号在非测试耳中可以听到时，向非测试耳呈现外侧掩蔽。除了使刺激的顺序和定时自动化之外，该方法还提供了质量指标，该质量指标警告听力学家由于患者因素或不适当的掩蔽水平而导致的潜在错误。在这个第二阶段项目中，第一阶段开发的原型将在三个临床环境中对广泛的正常和听力受损受试者进行测试。

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.