The Audiologist Informer

Check out this great laboratory review by HearingTracker's Steve Taddei, AuD, which includes sound quality and sound protection ratings for the top 9 earplugs including Loop, Eargasm, and Etymotic. ('Audiology Informer' apologizes for running this on Friday prior to it being ready for publication!)

Using electrocochleography (ECochG) in 77 cochlear implant surgeries, the researchers found that a 30% or more drop in cochlear microphonic (CM) amplitude during electrode insertion was correlated with significantly poorer hearing preservation postoperatively compared to CMs that remained stable throughout insertion.

Researchers have created an algorithm that may serve as a reliable alternative to subjective assessments of in-canal sound measurements of pulsatile tinnitus, providing clinicians with an objective measure to differentiate between subjective and objective pulsatile tinnitus.

Using puretone thresholds (500-4000 Hz), suprathreshold speech perception, balance, and risk of falling were evaluated in 295 adults. The results indicate the right ear contributes more to balance than the left ear, implying dominance of the left hemisphere in processing hearing cues for balance. Frequencies within the speech range (500/1000/2000 Hz) were correlated with balance and mediated the interaction between age and balance. The authors say these results should be considered when tailoring hearing and balance rehabilitation programs.