Pages

ShareThis

A Broad Analysis Of An Audiometer

By Tiffany Gill


An Audiometer is a special device which is used in evaluating hearing loss problems. Moreover, this device is used in in the general diagnosis of ENT problems. The instrument is uniquely calibrated to capture the exact data during hearing loss evaluation. The calibration is done in decibels as they are the standard units for measuring the intensity of sound. Calibration of this device needs to be done on regular basis. Doing this ensures that it gives error free results. Moreover, a good calibrated device will always give consistent results which can be trusted in analyzing hearing loss intensity of a patient.

The device does resemble a pair of headphones. However, it has several connections which include a special personal computer. Also embedded in this device is feedback control button. This button gives feedback signals to the PC whenever pressed. During operation, a patient is subjected to different audio frequencies which are from the audiometer. The patient then presses the button whenever they hear the sound. These different frequencies through which the patient is able to hear are than compiled to a data which is used to plot an audiogram.

The audiogram is plotted with the intensity of sound as the y axis in decibel units and the frequency of sound in the x- axis in hertz. The measured reading of the patient will be noted down and used to plot such a graph. Usually, the specialist uses computer software to aid them in drawing a perfect graph. They feed the reading to the computer software which automatically plots the audiogram graph. An important frequency known as the fundamental is included in the data as it is being fed to software to ensure the resulting audiogram captures all the details of the patient.

There exist two types of audiometers. They are the software and the hardware type. The software type is also called the digital audiometers. Such devices use computer software in their operation. They are mostly used by speech therapists in educational institutions to guide students with hearing capabilities.

The hardware type is a bit complex. It requires an experienced person to use it. It comes with an embedded control unit and a feedback button as well. It requires a special type of a computer application to display its results. This device is relatively expensive. It is found in referral hospitals and research labs.

The hearing loss procedure is diagnosed by presenting a patient with a sound from the audiometer but being varied in frequency. Their reactions to this sound of different frequencies will be noted down. It is these frequencies which are used to plot the audiogram. The medical specialist will then study the audiogram to determine the intensity of hearing loss of the patient.

An adult person will show a reaction to certain frequencies by pressing a button which is usually embedded to the device. For small children, their reaction is normally different. Their response can be a head turn or by pressing a toy which is usually provided during the test.

An audiometer can also be used to diagnosis hearing problems in animals. Veterinary doctors do train the animals to react to these sound frequencies through different ways. They can train the animals to eat, raise special sound or behave anomaly whenever they hear such audio.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment