title: PC-based tele-audiometry.
abstract: A personal computer (PC)-based audiometer was developed for interactive remote audiometry. This paper describes a tele-audiometric system and evaluates the performance of the device when compared with conventional face-to-face audiometry. The tele-audiometric system is fully PC-based. A sound card featuring a high-quality digital-to-analog converter is used as a pure-tone generator. The audiometric programs were developed based on Microsoft Windows in order to maximize usability. Audiologists and their subjects can use the tele-audiometry system as one would utilize any PC application. A calibration procedure has been applied for the standardization of sound levels in the remote system. The performance of this system was evaluated by comparing PC-based audiometry with the conventional clinical audiometry system for 37 subjects. Also, performance of the PC-based system was evaluated during use at a remote site. The PC-based audiometry system estimated the audiometric threshold with an error of less than 2.3 dBSPL. Only 10.7% of the results exhibited an error greater than 5 dBSPL during use at a remote site. The PC-based tele-audiomerty showed acceptable results for use at a remote site. This PC-based system can be used effectively and easily in many locations that have Internet access but no local audiologists.
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary Program for Biomedical Engineering, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jong Min
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Haet Bit
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Cheol Soo
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Seung Ha
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Kwang Suk
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D001298:Audiology / Q000295:instrumentation; D001299:Audiometry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D002138:Calibration; D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D007723:Korea; D008838:Microcomputers; D012984:Software; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000379:methods*