Telehearing and the Internet

ABSTRACT

The Internet, with its powerful penetration and scalability, has become an increasingly popular medical information resource and a new platform for telehealth. This article discusses two Internet-based tele-audiological systems that enable audiologists to perform real-time assessment of pure-tone auditory thresholds and otoacoustic emissions through remote control. The pure-tone audiometric thresholds assessed by a new tele-audiological system and a conventional audiometer varied by no more than 1.3 dB for air conduction and 1.2 dB for bone conduction. The remote assessment of otoacoustic emissions has been successful as well. With the rapid development of Internet-based applications, telehealth has the potential to provide important healthcare coverage for rural areas where specialized audiological services are lacking. Various Internet applications such as intraoperative monitoring, fitting and programming of digital hearing aids, activation and mapping of cochlear implants, audiological diagnostic testing with otoacoustic emissions and middle ear immittance measures, and auditory training are but a few examples of potential areas where telehearing can be implemented through the Internet.

KEYWORDS

Internet - otoacoustic emissions - telehealth - telehearing

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