Hearing Assessment

Question 1

How may conductive hearing loss present in patient

Answer 1

sounds muffled/ dull

may have tinnitus

Question 2

How may sensorineural hearing loss present in patient?

Answer 2

poor discrimination of speech/frequencies
distortion
loudness imbalance
tinnitus

Question 3

Types of test

Answer 3

Behavioural (audiograms etc)
Physiological (typically younger children)
Imaging

Question 4

How can you assess the middle ear?

Answer 4

Tympanometer (physiological)

Assesses ear drum mobility e.g would be low in glue ear, middle ear pressure (eustachian tube function)

glue ear would show no to negative pressure in the middle ear

Question 5

Early detection of hearing loss in newborns

Answer 5

• Sensitive microphone to listen to sound made by the outer hair cells
• automated brainstem response

Question 6

Hearing aids

Answer 6

Can be implanted ion several ways to aid hearing (to void middle ear problems?

Question 7

Cochlear implant

Answer 7

Two parts, one that goes on the cochlea, one that goes in the skin. Converts sounds into digital ones of the corresponding freqeuncies and stimulates the spiral ganglion of the cochlea to fire the auditory nerve fibres

Very successful for children and adults.