Audiometry

Audiometry
Intervention
ICD-10-PCS	F13Z1 - F13Z6
ICD-9-CM	95.41
MeSH	D001299
MedlinePlus	003341
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Audiometry (from Latin: audīre, "to hear" and metria, “to measure") is a branch of Audiology and the science of measuring hearing acuity for variations in sound intensity and pitch and for tonal purity, involving thresholds and differing frequencies. Typically, audiometric tests determine a subject's hearing levels with the help of an audiometer, but may also measure ability to discriminate between different sound intensities, recognize pitch, or distinguish speech from background noise. Acoustic reflex and otoacoustic emissions may also be measured. Results of audiometric tests are used to diagnose hearing loss or diseases of the ear, and often make use of an audiogram.

The basic requirements of the field were to be able to produce a repeating sound, some way to attenuate the amplitude, a way to transmit the sound to the subject, and a means to record and interpret the subject's responses to the test.

For many years there were a desultory use of various devices capable of producing sounds of controlled intensity. The first types were clock-like, giving off air-borne sound to the tubes of a stethoscope; the sound distributor head had a valve which could be gradually closed. Another model used a tripped hammer to strike a metal rod and produce the testing sound; in another a tuning fork was struck. The first such measurement device for testing hearing was described by Wolke (1802)

Following development of the induction coil in 1849 and audio transducers (telephone) in 1876, a variety of audiometers were invented in United States and overseas. These early audiometers were known as induction-coil audiometers due to...

In 1885, Arthur Hartmann designed an “Auditory Chart” which included left and right ear tuning fork representation on the abscissa and percent of hearing along the ordinate.

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