Steady state auditory evoked potentials in normal hearing subjects: evaluation of threshold and testing time

Area of Science:

• Audiology
• Neuroscience
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Steady state responses (SSRs) are objective measures of hearing thresholds.
• Auditory amplitude modulated tones between 75-110 Hz are used to elicit SSRs.
• SSRs may provide frequency-specific hearing threshold estimation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the efficacy of SSRs and auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) for objective hearing assessment.
• To evaluate SSRs in adults with normal hearing thresholds.
• To determine if multifrequency stimulation impacts testing time.

Main Methods:

• Twenty adults with normal hearing thresholds participated.
• Both SSRs and click-evoked ABRs were recorded for each ear.
• SSRs were tested using single, bi-, and multifrequency stimuli.

Main Results:

• Mean ABR threshold was 21.25 dB nHL.
• Mean SSR thresholds ranged from 7.1 to 18.9 dB nHL depending on stimulation.
• Multifrequency SSR testing was more time-efficient than single-frequency SSRs, though longer than ABRs.

Conclusions:

• SSRs are a viable method for frequency-specific objective audiometry.
• Multifrequency stimulation in SSR testing significantly reduces overall assessment duration.
• SSRs show promise for efficient and detailed hearing evaluations.