A Browser-Server-Based Tele-audiology System That Supports Multiple Hearing Test Modalities.
BACKGROUND
Millions of global citizens suffering from hearing disorders have limited or no access to much needed hearing healthcare. Although tele-audiology presents a solution to alleviate this problem, existing remote hearing diagnosis systems support only pure-tone tests, leaving speech and other test procedures unsolved, due to the lack of software and hardware to enable communication required between audiologists and their remote patients. This article presents a comprehensive remote hearing test system that integrates the two most needed hearing test procedures: a pure-tone audiogram and a speech test.


METHODS
This enhanced system is composed of a Web application server, an embedded smart Internet-Bluetooth(®) (Bluetooth SIG, Kirkland, WA) gateway (or console device), and a Bluetooth-enabled audiometer. Several graphical user interfaces and a relational database are hosted on the application server. The console device has been designed to support the tests and auxiliary communication between the local site and the remote site.


RESULTS
The study was conducted at an audiology laboratory. Pure-tone audiogram and speech test results from volunteers tested with this tele-audiology system are comparable with results from the traditional face-to-face approach.


CONCLUSIONS
This browser-server-based comprehensive tele-audiology offers a flexible platform to expand hearing services to traditionally underserved groups.
1 Department of Engineering, College of Engineering and Technology, East Carolina University , Greenville, North Carolina.
Jianchu Jason
JJ
Yao
1 Department of Engineering, College of Engineering and Technology, East Carolina University , Greenville, North Carolina.
Daoyuan
D
Yao
2 Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, East Carolina University , Greenville, North Carolina.
Gregg
G
Givens
D001298:Audiology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D006311:Hearing Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006320:Hearing Tests / Q000295:instrumentation*; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000379:methods*; D014584:User-Computer Interface
audiology testing; auxiliary communication; console device; speech test; tele-audiology