Things To Know About Audiometers

By Paula Barron


The audiometer is a machine created to evaluate the hearing loss. This type of equipment is in general used in specialized clinics and audiology centers. In general the audiometer equipment consists of a hardware unit, a pair of headphones and a button to be used by the subject to give feedback. In order to be recognized as equipment, an audiometer has to follow the ISO 8253, IEC60645 and ANSI S3.6 standards.

Nowadays these equipments are available in various formats and sizes, for all needs. Some audiometers are having a light weight, are running on batteries and are portable. The machines created for clinics and diagnostic centers are usually weighting more, but are more accurate and the information can be downloaded to computers. Another available category is the PC audiometers that can be easily used by people at home.

Audiology centers, hospitals and other specialized centers are using clinical audiometers that are complying with medical standards. Very popular are the software types, which are very easy to use and available with various features. With a normal computer and a specific driver, these equipments can be used by almost anyone at home. These equipments have become popular due to the accessible prices, even if the accuracy is not the maximum, as in the case of clinical equipments.

As it is very important that the measurements performed with audiometers are accurate, these have to be calibrated often. A regular calibration can help to identify hearing loss in early stages, and this is very important. The calibration procedure consists in making sure that the displayed level is identical with the subject's exact situation. No matter the clinic where the checking is performed, when machines are calibrated correctly, the results have to be all equal.

Equipments that are detecting the hearing loss problems can be calibrated using an audiometric system. This consists of a calibrated microphone connected to a coupling volume, which is opened at one side. For the calibration of more complicated equipments that are used to test the bone conduction hearing for example, a mechanical coupler is required. This has the capacity to reproduce the sound made when the air is passing through temporal bone.

The calibration of these systems is a very sensitive procedure, because in time these are liable to drift. This can happen when the microphone or the sound level meters are becoming unstable. Therefore the calibration of an audiometer should be performed only by specialists and in specialized calibration laboratories.

Due to the evolution of technology, these equipments are now more accurate, easy to use and efficient. Most of them can now be easily used at home, following some simple instructions. These machines are coming with various features, as multiple languages, color touch screen, user-defined data fields and large storage capacity. The information can be backed up and synchronized with the help of an USB flash drive.

A hearing loss problem can be identified in early stages with the use of the right equipment. Therefore a first check should be made only in specialized audiology clinics, with equipments that are offering accurate measurements. After being diagnosed correctly, the evolution during treatment can be monitored at home with the help of software audiometers.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment