Sunday, February 15, 2015

Types Of Hearing Test Etobicoke

By Ines Flores


Newborn babies need to be screened for any potential problems in their hearing by using some two main tests. The first one is automated oto-acoustic emissions test, known as AOAE and takes a few minutes to complete. It can be done when the baby is in slumber. A minute earpiece is placed in the ears and quiet sounds that are clicking played through it. It is a type of hearing test Etobicoke residents can use.

If the ears are functioning properly in the AOAE test, there will be production of reflected sound in the cochlea. The sounds are transmitted to a computer for analysis. In the event that there is no clarity of the results, either the test is done again or a different one is used. The test may fail if the baby is not settled in their sleep or the background has some noise. Another reason for its failure could be temporary ear blockage.

Another test is the automated auditory brainstem test, abbreviated as AABR. In this, there is placement of three sensors that are small on the head and neck of the child. Quiet sounds get played through soft headphones placed on the ears. Sound analysis is done by special computers. These two tests will not work for older babies.

An example of a test for older children is the visual reinforcement audiometry, VRA. The child sits on the laps then sounds are played from speakers. If they move toward the sound, some toy is lit as a form of reward. Varying the pitch and loudness helps to know the least sound the child is able to hear at each pitch. For the separate testing of every ear, small earphones will be used. The test works for children of between 6 months and 3 years old.

In pure tone audiometry, the instrument used is an audiometer which generates sounds with frequencies that vary. These sounds are normally played through a headphone. As this happens, the child will be asked to show a response when they hear a sound. For example, they may be asked to press a button. The sound level is gradually reduced to know the least sound the child can hear.

The method is useful only for children above 3 years of age. It comes in handy for screening how well the hearing of a child is before school begins. There also is play audiometry in which the child is expected to perform some simple task whenever they hear sounds from headphones. Such a task include moving of a toy.

The speech perception test is used to assess the ability of the child to recognize the words they can hear without necessarily seeing a person make lip movements. The words could be played via headphones or the person says them directly without showing him or her lip movements. The child is then expected to identify a word by choosing a matching picture or word from a list.

The method used for testing depends on the age of the child and the recommendation of the physician. Tests can also be carried out on adults. There are different methods for adult testing.




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