A General Review Of An Audiometer

By Tiffany Gill


An audiometer is a medical device found in most clinics, hospitals and audiology centers. Its use is to determine the hearing loss intensity of patients. Generally, the device can be used by E. N. T specialist in diagnosing various problems. The standard measurement unit for this device is the decibel. It is a unit which is universally accepted to measure the intensity of sound.

The device resembles a pair of headphones but is fitted with a feedback button which is controlled by a computer. The computer helps the specialist conducting the hearing loss analysis to display the data which is eventually used to form an audiogram. This audiogram is the one used to analyze the range through which a patient can react to given sound frequency.

An audiogram is basically a graph of the intensity of the sound in decibels against the reaction frequency in hertz. This graph is drawn with the aid of a computer. The graph will then be analyzed carefully by a medical specialist to determine at what range the patient is able to react to the sound frequencies. This will guide the specialist in administering treatment to 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 overall procedure of identifying a hearing loss problem is not complex as you might think. With this device, it is very easy.it only entails the patient being subjected to an audio from the device then their reaction at different frequencies being noted. These different frequencies give a range of the hearing capabilities of the patient. The range aid the medical specialist in treating such a patient.

During hearing loss analysis, the way through which patients respond to the sound varies. Adult patients are required to press a button while small children are provided with toys to show their reactions to the sound. Head turn can also be used to note a reaction to the sound.

This hearing loss test using an audiometer can also be extended to animals. Vet doctors have devised unique ways to make sure that animals do respond to various frequencies. For instance they can provide food to the animal as way of rewarding it for responding to a certain frequency. The animal will be trained to understand that its response to a given frequency usually means food and therefore the doctor will be able to record down the range through which the animal can respond to different frequencies.




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