Audiometer

Medical auditory examination with tone audiometer from the 1970s. The test person sits in a listening booth .

An audiometer is a diagnostic device used to determine the human hearing ability.

During the hearing test, electronically generated, optionally pulsed sinusoidal tones of various frequencies or standardized speech material are played to the examined person via headphones , bone conduction earphones or loudspeakers . The device essentially consists of a tone generator, a level regulator, which enables the step-by-step amplification of each tone up to at least 80 dB above the normal hearing threshold , as well as an electroacoustic and optionally also an electromechanical converter for testing air and bone conduction .

The technical standards for audiometers can be found in the IEC 60645 standard , the exact sequence of the measurement is defined by the ISO EN 8253 1-3 standard.

Modern professional audiometers are controlled by processors; orientational, less precise measurements can be carried out with simple software-based devices. The latest generations of PC audiometers combine computers and audiometry ; the created measured values can be saved or transferred. NOAHlink is used to calibrate hearing aids; GDT interfaces are common in diagnostic medicine .

Different measurements can be carried out with an audiometer depending on the equipment. The most important are:

Tone audiometry

Speech audiometry

Over-threshold tests (e.g. SISI test , Fowler test , Lüscher test , noise audiometry according to Langenbeck, etc.)

possibly also loudness scaling

An audiometer can help analyze whether a hearing loss is caused by the outer ear , middle ear , inner ear or auditory nerve .

In Germany, audiometers are subject to a metrological control (MTK), in accordance with Section 14 of the Medical Device Operator Ordinance, by an approved maintenance service that guarantees the accuracy and comparability of the measured values. The ISO standard 389 1-3 gives the procedures for the different types of headphones.

Individual evidence

↑ IEC 60645-1: 2017: Electroacoustics - Audiometric equipment - Part 1: Equipment for pure-tone and speech audiometry. In: iec.ch. Retrieved November 2, 2018 .
↑ ISO 8253-1: 2010: Acoustics - Audiometric test methods - Part 1: Pure-tone air and bone conduction audiometry. In: iso.org. Retrieved November 2, 2018 .
↑ GDT interface. In: qms-standards.de. Retrieved November 2, 2018 .

[1] IEC 60645-1: 2017: Electroacoustics - Audiometric equipment - Part 1: Equipment for pure-tone and speech audiometry. In: iec.ch. Retrieved November 2, 2018 .

[2] ISO 8253-1: 2010: Acoustics - Audiometric test methods - Part 1: Pure-tone air and bone conduction audiometry. In: iso.org. Retrieved November 2, 2018 .

[3] GDT interface. In: qms-standards.de. Retrieved November 2, 2018 .