MULTIMODALITY MONITORING OF AUDITORY EVOKED POTENTIALS

THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY IS TO DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF USING AUDITORY, OR COMBINED AUDITORY AND VISUAL, PRESENTATION MODES IN THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE BRAINSTEM AUDITORY EVOKED RESPONSE (BAER). THE LONG-TERM GOAL OF THIS WORK IS TO IMPROVE THE IDENTIFICATION OF BIOELECTRIC SIGNALS RECORDED IN MEDICAL APPLICATIONS. THE APPROACH TAKEN TO ACHIEVE THIS GOAL INVOLVES PRESENTING THE BIOELECTRICAL SIGNALS TO MORE THAN ONE SENSORY MODALITY SIMULTANEOUSLY. IT ALSO INVOLVES THE USE OF SIGNAL-PROCESSING TECHNIQUES TO OPTIMIZE THE FORM OF THE INFORMATION PRESENTED. THE SPECIFIC BIOELECTRIC RESPONSE CHOSEN FOR THIS PHASE I RESEARCH-THE BAER-HAS A NUMBER OF IMPORTANT USES INCLUDING ESTIMATION OF HEARING SENSITIVITY, DETECTION OF AUDITORY PATHOLOGY, AND THE MONITORING OF THE STATUS OF THE AUDITORY SYSTEM AND BRAINSTEM DURING CERTAIN SURGICAL PROCEDURES. IT IS ALSO PLANNED TO INVESTIGATE AUTOMATIC RECOGNITION STRATEGIES TO SUPPLEMENT THE INFORMATION RECEIVED BY THE OPERATOR. IN PHASE II, OTHER BIOELECTRIC POTENTIALS WILL BE STUDIED.