Models, Functions And Design Of An Audiometer

By Alyssa McCall


Instruments used to determine the hearing capability of persons is called an audiometer. Determination of the hearing capability of a person is essential so that one may get the right medication. These instruments are usually under the control of a standard PC and one of their components is a hardware that can be connected to headphones. We have both software hearing devices and the hardware based ones.

An example of the software AM is the Screening PC Based AM that only uses a standard computer. This can be owned and run by anyone in their homes to check their hearing. Their accuracy however is not very good because they lack a standard for calibration. Some of these screening PC based devices can be found on a hand held device that is windows driven.

The next example is the Clinical PC Based devices which are quite expensive compared to the Screening PC Based devices, which is a software device. This type of device are way more accurate and efficient than the other software devices. These devices are mainly used by professionals in hospitals, research communities and also audiometric centres. Their calibrations is also way better and accurate than hardware devices.

The market offers a variety of hearing sensors each with their own unique modification. These include the Astera hearing sensor that is clinical. This type of hearing sensor is PC based. Another one is the Aurical hearing sensor that are also PC based. It is very accurate with the clinical process and uses batteries. There are also Midimate hearing sensor that are stand alone meaning they are not PC based. It s uses air, bone and speech for the audiometric process.

Itera II hearing sensors are hybrid audiometers meaning that they have both PC and stand alone system, that carry out the entire diagnostic testing process. It is also preferred because it is somewhat simple to the test session. The Xeta hearing sensors are also hybrid and are portable. Many people term them as fast, flexible and efficient. The last one is the Micro mate hearing sensor that is stand alone as well as PC based. It is easy for the test session and also to keep contact with a patient.

The devices calibration should be checked time after time so as to ensure that the stimulus level is the same as that shown on the display. Acoustical checking of the audiometer is mainly practised by countries as the US. The American Standards Specification for Audiometers is the one that sets the method to be used in dong this.

For one to quantify their hearing loss, the audiometer they are using have to be very accurate for it to produce reliable measurements. If the device has complications with its calibration, it means that the measurements found are wrong and therefore the frequency set for the correction would be wrong.

It is thus clear that an audiometer is a clinical instrument but individuals could own them if they are cautious about their hearing loss. There are different audiometers as are listed above. Their calibration is an essential instrument for their performance.




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