User-Operated Audiometry Project (UAud) – Introducing an Automated User-Operated System for Audiometric Testing Into Everyday Clinic Practice

Sidiras, Christos; Sanchez-Lopez, Raul; Pedersen, Ellen Raben; Sorensen, Chris; Nielsen, Jacob; Schmidt, Jesper Hvass

doi:10.3389/fdgth.2021.724748

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 42 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…However, pure-tone audiometry is a test based on sequence and step inspection, which is particularly suitable for the automation ( Margolis and Morgan, 2008 ). Automation is a powerful enabler for alternative diagnostic pathways, which can reduce testing costs without trained audiologists ( Eksteen et al, 2019 ) and testing outside a sound booth ( Brennan-Jones et al, 2016 ; Magro et al, 2020 ), and potentially benefit people with hearing loss in remote and economically underdeveloped areas ( Visagie et al, 2015 ; Sandström et al, 2020 ), to address the global need for an accessible hearing loss diagnosis ( Swanepoel et al, 2019 ; Sidiras et al, 2021 ; Wasmann et al, 2022 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Clinical comparison of two automated audiometry procedures

Liu

Du²,

Liu³

et al. 2022

Front. Neurosci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ObjectiveAutomated pure-tone audiometry has been shown to provide similar hearing threshold estimates to conventional audiometry, but lower correlations were reported at high and low frequencies in audiometric tests than those of manual tests, while the correlations were better in the middle frequencies. In this paper, we used the same equipment and different test procedures for automated testing, and compared the results with manual test results.DesignOne hundred subjects aged 18–36 years were randomly divided into two groups to perform air-conduction pure-tone audiometry (0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8 kHz) using the ascending and shortened ascending protocols built-in to the automated audiometer, respectively. Recorded testing time, the total number of responses and the subject’s preference tests were compared with those of manual tests.ResultsSignificant difference was found at 250 Hz regarding the distribution of the absolute difference between the two automated and the manual thresholds. The testing time spend in the ascending method (9.8 ± 1.4 min, mean ± SD) was significantly longer than in the shorted ascending method (5.8 ± 0.9 min). The total numbers of responses of the ascending method (90.5 ± 10.8 times) and shorted ascending method (62.0 ± 11.4 times) were significantly different. Finally, no significant difference was found in preferences between automated and manual procedures.ConclusionThe shorted ascending method can save lots of testing time. The difference between the two automated thresholds at 250 Hz is caused by the different test procedures, and the difference at 8,000 Hz between the automated test and the manual test can be due to the transducer types and allowable differences in calibration.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Clinical comparison of two automated audiometry procedures

Liu

Du²,

Liu³

et al. 2022

Front. Neurosci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It impacts social and professional life, cognitive function, psychological health, and economy at both the personal and the societal level [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]. Treatment is accessible to only some patients, mainly because of the limited availability of hearing care professionals and clinics [ 6 , 7 ]. Efforts are being made towards the development of novel audiometric testing that fills this gap, including the User-Operated Audiometry (UAud) project [ 7 , 8 , 9 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Treatment is accessible to only some patients, mainly because of the limited availability of hearing care professionals and clinics [ 6 , 7 ]. Efforts are being made towards the development of novel audiometric testing that fills this gap, including the User-Operated Audiometry (UAud) project [ 7 , 8 , 9 ]. The UAud solution includes direct unsupervised interaction of patients with an automated system located at easily accessible testing rooms.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ambient Noise in Candidate Rooms for User-Operated Audiometry

et al. 2023

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Hearing loss is a widespread problem while treatment is not always accessible, mainly because of the limited availability of hearing care professionals and clinics. In this work, part of the User-Operated Audiometry project, we investigate the acoustic environment of inexpensive non-sound-treated rooms that could be used for unsupervised audiometric testing. Measurements of 10 min of ambient noise were taken from 20 non-sound-treated rooms in libraries and private and public clinics, nine of which were measured twice. Ambient noise was compared against two traditional audiometric sound-treated rooms and Maximum Permissible Ambient noise levels by ISO 8231-1, while factoring for the attenuation by the DD450 circumaural headphones provided. In most non-sound-treated rooms, MPAs were violated only by transient sounds, while the floor-noise level was below MPAs. Non-sound-treated rooms’ ambient noise levels presented with much larger fluctuations compared to sound-treated rooms. Almost all violations occurred at low to mid-low frequencies. Our results suggest that large-scale implementation of user-operated audiometry outside traditional audiometric rooms is possible, at least under some realizable conditions. Circumaural headphones’ attenuation is probably a necessary condition for all cases. Depending on the room, an online system making decisions based on ambient noise might also be included in combination with active attenuation.

show abstract

“… 6 Thus, there is a need for expanding the capacity or improving efficiency of the audiology services to reduce waiting time. A solution is user-operated audiometry 7 where patients test their own hearing without any involvement of an external operator of the audiometry equipment. This would allow for a more efficient examination of hearing loss compared with traditional audiometry.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Audible Contrast Threshold (ACT) test is a new clinical test measuring spectro-temporal modulation sensitivity. 7 In the research literature, similar tests are often referred to as tests of Spectro-temporal Modulation Detection 27 (STMD). The patient’s task is to discriminate between spectro-temporally modulated noise and non-modulated noise.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of hearing aid fitting effectiveness with audiograms from either user-operated or traditional audiometry in a clinical setting: a study protocol for a blinded non-inferiority randomised controlled trial

Pedersen

Laugesen

et al. 2023

BMJ Open

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

IntroductionThere is a worldwide need to enhance the capacity of audiometry testing. The objective of this study is to compare the User-operated Audiometry (UAud) system with traditional audiometry in a clinical setting, by investigating if hearing aid effectiveness based on UAud is non-inferior to hearing aid effectiveness based on traditional audiometry, and whether thresholds obtained with the user-operated version of the Audible Contrast Threshold (ACT) test correlates to traditional measures of speech intelligibility.Methods and analysisThe design will be a blinded non-inferiority randomised controlled trial. 250 adults referred for hearing aid treatment will be enrolled in the study. Study participants will be tested using both traditional audiometry as well as the UAud system and they will answer the questionnaire Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ12) at baseline. Participants will be randomly divided to receive hearing aids fitted based on either UAud or traditional audiometry. Three months after participants have started using their hearing aids, they will undergo a hearing in noise test with hearing aids to measure their speech-in-noise performance and answer the following questionnaires: SSQ12, the Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit and the International Outcome Inventory for Hearing Aids. The primary outcome is a comparison of the change in SSQ12 scores from baseline to follow-up between the two groups. Participants will undergo the user-operated ACT test of spectro-temporal modulation sensitivity as part of the UAud system. The ACT results will be compared with measures of speech intelligibility from the traditional audiometry session and follow-up measurements.Ethics and disseminationThe project was evaluated by the Research Ethics Committee of Southern Denmark and judged not to need approval. The findings will be submitted to an international peer-reviewed journal and presented at national and international conferences.Trial registration numberNCT05043207.

show abstract

User-Operated Audiometry Project (UAud) – Introducing an Automated User-Operated System for Audiometric Testing Into Everyday Clinic Practice

Cited by 9 publications

References 42 publications

Clinical comparison of two automated audiometry procedures

Clinical comparison of two automated audiometry procedures

Ambient Noise in Candidate Rooms for User-Operated Audiometry

Comparison of hearing aid fitting effectiveness with audiograms from either user-operated or traditional audiometry in a clinical setting: a study protocol for a blinded non-inferiority randomised controlled trial

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About