Parents with a profoundly deaf child ask, "How can you test such a young infant for hearing loss?" The health care provider will likely explain which of the following testing procedures? Select all that apply

Question

A) Tuning fork
B) Audioscope
C) EEG with auditory brain stem–evoked responses (ABRs)
D) Playing music and slowly increasing the sound until response is elicited
E) PET scanning

Answer 1

Ans: A, B, C
Feedback:
Tuning forks are used to differentiate conductive and sensorineural hearing loss. Audioscopes can be used to assess a person's ability to hear pure tones at 1000 to 2000 Hz (usual speech frequencies). The ABR uses electroencephalographic (EEG) electrodes and high-gain amplifiers to produce a record of brain wave activity elicited during repeated acoustic stimulations of either or both ears. It involves subjecting the ear to loud clicks and using a computer to analyze nerve impulses as they are processed in the midbrain. Imaging studies such as computed tomography (CT) scans and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be done to determine the site of a lesion (if tumor is suspected) and the extent of damage.