Every year millions of hearing tests are conducted in the U.S. for a variety of reasons, including diagnosis of ear disease, evaluation of communicative function, monitoring effects of noise and ototoxic medications, prospective research studies, and fitting of hearing aids. Although there is a =standard"""""""" hearing test method, the rules are vaguely defined and loosely followed. This project is designed to test and refine an automated method for testing hearing sensitivity (AMTAS). AMTAS is designed to achieve similar test results to those obtained by expert audiologists while standardizing the method, eliminating errors, increasing efficiency, and decreasing cost. The method preserves the salient features of routine audiometry while applying well-accepted principles of auditory psychophysics. Contralateral masking is presented to the non-test ear whenever the test signal may be audible in that ear. In addition to automating the sequence and timing of stimuli, the method provides quality indicators that alert the audiologist to potential errors due to patient factors or inappropriate masker levels. In this Phase II project, the prototype developed in Phase I will be tested on a wide range of normal and hearing-impaired subjects in three clinical settings. ? ?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Type
Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Grants - Phase II (R42)
Project #
2R42DC005110-02
Application #
6587147
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-IFCN-6 (10))
Program Officer
Luethke, Lynn E
Project Start
2001-09-01
Project End
2004-11-30
Budget Start
2002-12-01
Budget End
2003-11-30
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2003
Total Cost
$266,341
Indirect Cost
Name
Audiology, Inc
Department
Type
DUNS #
362916384
City
Arden Hills
State
MN
Country
United States
Zip Code
55112
Margolis, Robert H; Frisina, Robert; Walton, Joseph P (2011) AMTAS(®): automated method for testing auditory sensitivity: II. air conduction audiograms in children and adults. Int J Audiol 50:434-9
Margolis, Robert H; Glasberg, Brian R; Creeke, Sarah et al. (2010) AMTAS: automated method for testing auditory sensitivity: validation studies. Int J Audiol 49:185-94
Margolis, Robert H; Saly, George L; Le, Chap et al. (2007) Qualind: A method for assessing the accuracy of automated tests. J Am Acad Audiol 18:78-89