5 "tools" every audiologist needs and their function
booth (w/ audiometer and transducers), video otoscope, HA analyzer and real ear probe microphone measurement (one instrument, measure how much HA works/amplifies), computer network (software and hardware for patient records and HA settings), and workshop (in house repairs)
8 FDA red flags
deformity of ear (present at birth or caused by trauma), active drainage in previous 90 days, sudden or rapidly progressive HL during previous 90 days, sudden or long term dizziness, sudden or recent unilateral HL in past 90 days, ABG of 15 dB at 5,1,2 kHz, significant cerumen buildup or foreign body in canal, ear pain or discomfort
Three things that happen for the technical aspects of treatment
HA selection (some decisions made for audiologist, some by audiologist and patient), quality control (does the aid work?), fitting and verification (how does it feel and sound?)
Two important facts of prescriptive methods (not the rules of prescriptive methods)
make the sound loud enough for HA to amplify at MCL and not to reach LDL
5 tips for hearing aid orientation groups
group by age and circumstance, require significant others to attend, older pt group is most common, schedule snack time, offer incentives
Redundancy of Speech w/ an example
the meaning of speech is said in many ways
ex. the cats are in the tree (can see plurality with cats or "are")
Speechreading
using everything available to try to understand what is being said
Lipreading
understanding the message by watching the lip and jaw movements
Visemes
groups of phonemes that look the same on the mouth
Homophones and examples
phonemes within the same viseme group
p b m
f v
th th
wh r
sh zh tsh dzh
t d n l
k g ng
Things about the speaker that enhance or detract from speechreading
familiarity of speaker, facial expression, gestures, articulation, lip movement, rate of speech distracters, gender, extent of message
Things about the message the enhance or detract from speechreading
visibility, constraints, redundancy
Things about the environment that enhance or detract from speechreading
distance, viewing angle, competition, lighting, situational cues
Things about the listener that enhance or detract from speechreading
residual hearing, age, language skills, intelligence, personality traits, visual skills, gender
four problems people with hearing loss have
decreased audibility, decreased dynamic range, decreased frequency resolution, decreased temporal resolution
PTA 1
500, 1000, 2000
PTA 2
1000, 2000, 4000
2 Frequency PTA is for
an upward sloping hearing loss
The level at which you present word recognition testing
35 dB SL re: HL
Head Shadow Effect (explain in terms of wavelength, frequency, diffraction, unilateral HL, bilateral HL w/ one HA)
when a sound comes from one side of the head, the head will cast an acoustic shadow and attenuate the sound to the opposite ear. It attenuates low frequencies because their wavelengths are larger than the diameter of the head, so they'll bend to the other ear (1500 Hz)
* HELP
Gap detection test
Black box analogy of a hearing aid
sound energy enters the HA via a microphone (input), dB level of sound is increased by an amplifier (gain), the amplified sound exits the HA via a receiver (output)
Block diagram for an analog HA
microphone > amplifier > receiver
block diagram for a digital HA
microphone > analog to digital converter > digital signal processor > digital to analog converter > receiver
Input transducers in terms of energy transformation taking place
ways for energy to get into HA, the microphone changes acoustic energy into electric energy and the telecoils change electromagnetic energy into electric energy