Audiometry (Hearing Test)
Pure Tone Audiometry (PTA)
Test duration: about 15-30 minutes
Purpose: To obtain the hearing threshold at different frequencies in each ear for patients older than six years old
Procedure: The patient will hear a series of pure tone of different frequencies and intensities. The client needs to press the response button or raise his/her hand whenever the client hears the sound. The whole test will be carried out in a sound-treated room
Impedance Audiometry (IA)
Test duration: within 15 minutes
Purpose: To assess the middle ear function of each ear
Procedure: By changing the air pressure in the ear canal and presenting some loud sounds through the instrument, the mobility of the eardrum, middle ear pressure and the acoustic reflexes in each ear can be measured
Otoacoustic emission test (OAE)
Test duration: within 15 minutes
Objective: To evaluate the function of cochlear outer hair cells in the inner ear
Procedure: The patient will hear a series of sounds of different frequencies. The instrument will automatically collect and analyse the responses from the inner ear.
Visual Reinforcement Audiometry (VRA)
Test duration: around 45 minutes
Objective: To assess the hearing ability of children aged around one to three years
Procedure: The child will hear a series of sounds of different frequencies and intensities through the sound field or a headphone. The audiologist will condition the child to look at the direction of the sounds. Every time the child looks at the correct direction, the audiologist will play a short clip of animation as a visual reward for the child. The goal of the test is to obtain the minimal response levels at different frequencies of the child.
VRA must be done with Impedance Audiometry and Otoacoustic Emissions test as a test battery. The test results can be crosschecked with each other and thus an accurate diagnosis can be obtained. The total test duration of this test battery is around 75 minutes.
Speech Audiometry (SA)
Test duration: within 30 minutes
Purpose: To assess the ability of adult clients to recognize speech
Procedure: The test is conducted in Cantonese or English, depending on the client’s native language. The client would hear a series of words and need to verbally repeat them right after he/she hears the words. Scores will be calculated according to the repeat accuracy. The results of SA can help predict and verify the performance of the client with hearing aids, and can be used to compare with the results of other hearing tests.
Conditioned Play Audiometry (Play)
Test duration: around 45 minutes
Objective: To assess the hearing ability of children aged around three to five years
Procedure: The child will hear a series of sounds of different frequencies and intensities through the sound field or a headphone. Through playing simple games like putting a building block every time he/she hears a sound, the audiologist will obtain the hearing thresholds or the minimal response levels at different frequencies in each ear of the child.
Play must be done with Impedance Audiometry and Otoacoustic Emissions test as a test battery. The test results can be crosschecked with each other and thus an accurate diagnosis can be obtained. The total test duration of this test battery is around 75 minutes.
