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Screening Program Basics of Otoacoustical Emissions(Materials adapted from Hall & Mueller, 1997) What are otoacoustical emissions (OAEs)? Otoacoustical emissions are sounds that healthy hair cells in the inner ear produce either on their own or in response to sounds put into the ear. The ear’s ability to make these sounds is affected by even mild amounts of hearing loss. OAE measurement is an ideal tool for hearing screening programs and provides a comprehensive evaluation of cochlear function. What is the purpose of the hearing screening program? The purpose of the hearing screening program is to identify patients with a hearing loss and to dismiss those with normal hearing. |
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What are the basic principles involved in OAE testing? In OAE testing, we present sounds of varying frequencies to the ear and measure the cochlear emissions that are present. If there is an absence of such emissions, then the person probably has a hearing loss or other condition that precludes measurement of OAEs. How does the equipment work, and what anatomical regions are involved? A probe tip is placed snugly into the ear canal. The probe tip has a loudspeaker in it that will present two tones or a series of clicks to the ear that will go into the eardrum, travel through the middle ear, into the cochlea in the inner ear, and to the outer hair cells. If the outer hair cells are healthy, they will respond by emitting tiny sounds that will travel backward through the middle ear and into the ear canal so that a tiny microphone can pick them up and send them to the computer. The computer then analyzes those sounds to determine the function of the outer hair cells. Otoacoustical emissions are used diagnostically to evaluate hearing loss in any patient, from babies through adults. OAEs are helpful in the objective evaluation of the cochlea of tinnitus patients as well as patients exposed to ototoxic medication or agents that can harm hearing but whose results are not immediately evident on subjective hearing tests.
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