On-line system for automated auditory evoked response threshold determination

An online computer system has been developed to determine auditory-evoked-response thresholds for objective hearing testing of otherwise untestable patients. The system uses click-evoked auditory brainstem responses. Online threshold determination is accomplished by two modules: a response recognition unit which determines if a response is present and a threshold tracking unit which utilizes a modified PEST (parameter estimation by sequential testing) algorithm to determine the click intensity testing level. Thresholds obtained manually and automatically are compared in 161 tests from 62 ears. Results indicate that automatically obtained thresholds show a strong agreement with those obtained visually as determined by a panel of experts.<>