title: EchoScan: a new system to objectively assess peripheral hearing disorders.
abstract: Pure-tone air-conduction audiometry (PTA) is the reference clinical test used in Europe and the United States to measure the extent of hearing loss. It is a subjective, behavioral test, which measures thresholds of hearing sensations and perceptions based on patient responses to frequency-specific pure-tone stimuli. PTA can detect hearing problems due to cochlear or retro-cochlear impairment, without identifying the source of the problem. In contrast, cubic distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) detect inner-ear dysfunctions, particularly those involving the outer hair cells sensitive to noise and ototoxicants. Recently, ototoxicants were shown to have an action on the central nuclei driving the middle-ear acoustic reflex. Therefore, a new device, called EchoScan, was conceived to collect and measure performance both in the middle- and inner-ear. Its originality: the use of a battery of DPOAE measurements associated with contra-lateral acoustic stimulation. Changes in DPOAE amplitude due to ageing and gender were incidentally detected and EchoScan was more sensitive than impedancemetry to detect the stapedial reflex. EchoScan can be used both in clinical investigations and in occupational medicine, especially for the auditory follow-up of people exposed to noise or ototoxic agents. EchoScan could be promising to assess early detection in programs to prevent hearing loss.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Research and safety (INRS) CS 60027, F-54519 vandoeuvre Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Venet
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Campo
authors.forename: Cécile
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rumeau
authors.forename: Hélène
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Eluecque
authors.forename: Cécile
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Parietti-Winkler
mesh_terms: D000158:Acoustic Impedance Tests / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D003051:Cochlea / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006311:Hearing Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012737:Sex Factors; D055815:Young Adult