AUTOMATED ELECTROPHYSIOLOGIC HEARING SCREENING DEVICE

HEARING TESTING OF NEWBORNS AND INFANTS USING AUDITORY BRAINSTEM RESPONSES (ABR) HAS GAINED WIDESPREAD ACCEPTANCE AND HAS COME TO BE PREFERRED OVER OTHER LESS ACCURATE TECHNIQUES. ABR'S STRENGTH IS ITS DIRECT MEASUREMENT OF AUDITORY FUNCTION, WHICH RESULTS IN HIGH TEST SPECIFICITY AND SENSITIVITY. CLINICAL USE OF ABR, HOWEVER, IS STILL LIMITED BECAUSE OF THE PROFESSIONAL LABOR-INTENSIVE OPERATION OF EXISTING DEVICES. THE NEED FOR EXTENSIVE PROFESSIONAL INTERVENTION DURING AND AFTER TESTING HAS LED TO LIMITED USE AND CONSEQUENTLY LOW PRODUCTION AND HIGH UNITCOST OF ABR DEVICES. ONE METHOD OF OVERCOMING THE PRACTICALDRAWBACKS OF ABR HEARING TESTING IS TO DEVELOP AUTOMATED DEVICES THAT REQUIRE MINIMAL HUMAN INTERVENTION DURING A SHORT TESTING PERIOD. THE OVERALL AIM OF THE PROPOSED WORK IN PHASE I IS TO DEVELOP METHODS FOR AUTOMATIC TESTING AND ANALYSIS OF AUDITORY BRAINSTEM RESPONSES. SUCH METHODS WOULD OPERATE IN REAL TIME TO ACHIEVE A DESIRED MEASUREMENT GOAL AND OBVIATE THE NEED FOR HUMAN INTERVENTION FOR (1) DISCARDING RESPONSES OF UNDESIRED ORIGIN, (2) RECOGNIZING THE RELEVANT WAVEFORMS, AND (3) ANALYZING THE OVERALL RESULTS TO PROVIDE EFFICIENT AND ACCURATE HEARING THRESHOLDS. THEREFORE, DURING PHASE I, ABR RESPONSES WILL BE COLLECTED FROM BOTH INFANTS AND ADULTS AND USED TO EVAL- UATE EFFICIENT AND SENSITIVE TECHNIQUES FOR SIGNAL ANALYSIS AND THRESHOLD DETECTION. THESE TECHNIQUES WILL THEN BE USEDFOR THE DESIGN OF A COST-EFFICIENT AUTOMATED MICROCOMPUTER- BASED DEVICE.