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Hearing-aid-processed tone pips: electroacoustic and ABR characteristics
E Brown1, A J Klein, K A Snydee
1Department of Otolaryngology and Communicative Sciences, University of South Carolina, Charleston, USA.
Journal of the American Academy of Audiology
|August 15, 2000
Summary
Hearing aid output limiting circuits do not significantly affect auditory brainstem response (ABR) recordings with tone-pip stimuli. Cochlear output saturation was observed at high stimulus levels in normal-hearing adults.
Area of Science:
- Audiology
- Neuroscience
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) can assess hearing aid benefit in infants.
- Understanding hearing aid acoustics is crucial for accurate ABR interpretation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the acoustic impact of hearing aid output limiting circuits on tone-pip stimuli.
- To determine how these processed stimuli influence ABR characteristics.
Main Methods:
- Constructed electroacoustic input/output functions for three limiting circuits (wide dynamic range compression, output compression, linear peak clipping) using tone-pip stimuli.
- Measured Wave V latency and amplitude functions in five normal-hearing adults with the same stimuli and hearing aid settings.
Main Results:
- None of the tested output limiting circuits effectively activated with tone-pip stimuli compared to continuous tones.
- Aided Wave V latency and amplitude functions showed saturation at high stimulus levels, indicating cochlear saturation.
Conclusions:
- Tone-pip stimuli may not adequately engage hearing aid output limiting circuits.
- Cochlear saturation is a factor in ABR measurements at high stimulus levels with hearing aids.