Comparison of Bone-Conducted Cervical VEMPs Elicited by B71 and B81 Bone Vibrators

A variety of stimulus delivery methods can elicit vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs). The current study compared bone conduction (BC) cervical VEMPs (cVEMPs) across two different clinical bone vibrators. It was hypothesized that the B81 transducer would be more effective for producing larger BC-cVEMP peak to peak amplitudes due to its low-frequency advantages in pure-tone audiometry applications.

Twenty young adults under the age of 40 years with no reported history of hearing or balance disorders participated in the study. BC cVEMPs were elicited using two clinical bone transducers: the Radioear B71 bone vibrator and the Radioear B81 bone vibrator. Both transducers were calibrated using the acoustic method of calibration before data collection, and the linear dynamic range of the transducers was determined. Participants were asked to sit and match a fixed electromyography (EMG) target level of 100 µV, while BC cVEMPs were recorded using stimulus frequencies of 250, 500, and 750 Hz.

Statistically significant differences in raw amplitude at 250 and 750 Hz between the B71 and B81 were observed; the B71 produced larger peak to peak amplitudes over the B81. At 500 Hz, larger amplitudes were observed with the B71, but results were not statistically significant. The B71 produced significantly lower cVEMP thresholds at all three frequencies. Across both transducers, 500 Hz produced the largest peak to peak amplitude compared with 250 and 750 Hz. Peak to peak amplitude did not increase above 55 dB nHL for 250 and 500 Hz, but amplitude continued to increase at 750 Hz.

The present study found statistically significant differences in BC-cVEMP amplitude and threshold between the B71 and B81, but results were not what we hypothesized. In general, the B71 elicited larger BC-cVEMP amplitudes and lower thresholds compared with the B81. Additionally, 500 Hz was found to be the best frequency for both BC transducers, contrasting previous studies suggesting lower frequencies yield larger BC-cVEMP amplitudes. It is possible that these average differences could also be clinically significant when looking at individual amplitude differences. Larger peak to peak amplitudes at 500 Hz may be partially due to the underlying physical levels used in the current study, as well as the output spectra of the transducers, and may explain the larger response amplitudes observed at 500 Hz compared with 250 Hz.