Stimulus artefact reduction systems for the TDH-49 headphone in the recording of auditory evoked potentials

Standard audiometric transducers, such as the TDH-49, produce an electrical artefact which interferes with the recording of the early auditory evoked potentials. The sources of these artefacts have been identified as the capacitive and inductive coupling of the transducer and its leads to the recording electrodes. Artefacts were recorded using an artificial head with an M2-Cz electrode array for 500- and 3-kHz tone pips and positive, negative, and alternating polarity clicks at Peak Equivalent Sound Pressure Levels from 60 dB (positive click and 3-kHz tone pip) to 90 dB (alternating polarity click). The artefacts grew linearly with increases in intensity. Shifts in the Visual Detection Threshold of the artefacts produced by various conditions of shielding the transducer and its leads were explored. Acceptable reductions in artefact magnitude were obtained by enclosing the transducer in either an aluminium or mu-metal case connected through a braided-wire shield of the transducer leads to earth ground. Lesser reductions were achieved by the use of antiphase cancellation. The combination of the latter and the aluminum and mu-metal cases did not produce greater shifts in the visual detection threshold than the use of the aluminum and mu-metal cases alone. The fabrication of a pair of shielded enclosures is described and data are presented which show that they do not adversely affect the acoustic output of the headphones.