Abstract
The purpose of this study was to evaluate a new method for estimating the acoustic reflex threshold incorporating wideband (250-8000 Hz) measures of energy reflectance and admittance (M. P. Feeney & D. H. Keefe, 2001). The wideband technique incorporates both a correlation method to assess the pattern of the reflex-induced shifts in reflectance and admittance across frequency and a magnitude method to determine if the amplitude of the shifts exceeds baseline variability. Contralateral reflex thresholds for 1000- and 2000-Hz activators were obtained for 34 young adults with both the wideband method and a clinical method using a 226 Hz probe tone. Average reflex thresholds obtained with the new method were 12 to 13.7 dB lower than those obtained with the clinical method. When the bandwidth of analysis of admittance and reflectance responses was limited to 250 to 2000 Hz, the reduction in reflex thresholds was accompanied by the rejection of 96% of nonactivator-baseline responses as reflexes. The method holds promise for extending reflex threshold testing to patients with reflexes elevated beyond current equipment limits, for reducing the sound levels used in reflex testing, and for obtaining sensitive measures of reflex threshold in infants.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 128-136 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research |
Volume | 46 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 2003 |
Keywords
- Admittance
- Energy reflectance
- Immittance
- Middle ear
- Reflex threshold
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Language and Linguistics
- Linguistics and Language
- Speech and Hearing