title: ABR recordings in newborns using an ear canal electrode.
abstract: The objective of this study was to improve the sensitivity of ABR recordings in newborns via a procedure that utilizes the ear canal as a recording site. Conventional recordings were compared to ear canal recordings of the ABR in 45 normally-hearing newborns who passed their newborn hearing screening. Responses were obtained at stimulus levels of 80, 60, 40, and 20 dBnHL using forehead (+) to ear canal (-), versus forehead (+) to mastoid (-) electrode configurations. ABR parameters evaluated included measurement of component amplitudes of wave I and V, absolute latencies of I and V, the I-V interwave interval, and amplitude ratio. At stimulus levels of 80, 60, and 40 dBnHL, wave I amplitude was significantly larger using the ear canal configuration. This investigation shows that the amplitude of wave I is significantly larger and easier to identify when the ear canal is used as one of the recording sites in comparison to more conventional scalp (mastoid) recordings.
authors.affiliation: Audiology Department, Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center, Seattle, Mail Stop W-6665, PO Box 5371, Seattle, WA 98105-0371, USA. anupa.gaddam@seattlechildrens.org
authors.forename: Anupa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gaddam
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Ferraro
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001300:Audiometry, Evoked Response / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D004424:Ear Canal / Q000502:physiology; D004566:Electrodes; D004867:Equipment Design; D016057:Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D017084:Otoacoustic Emissions, Spontaneous; D011930:Reaction Time