Otoacoustic Emissions: Measurement, Data and Interrelations

The present study was designed to investigate the relationship among subject's biological factors, stimulus parameters, and otoacoustic emissions (OAEs), as well as the interrelations among different forms of OAEs. Spontaneous otoacoustic emissions (SOAEs), transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) and distortion-product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) were measured in 16 normal-hearing human subjects. The results showed (1) a gender effect on the presence/absence of SOAEs, and on the response levels of TEOAEs and DPOAEs, (2) a tendency of right ear OAE advantage, and (3) that the presence/absence of SOAEs playa role in the response level of TEOAEs, which was correlated with the response level of DPOAEs. We have concluded that the different forms of OAEs describe the status of the cochlear function from somewhat different perspectives. Moreover, some issues, e.g. the estimation of true TEOAEs from commonly recorded TEOAE; and a possible solution for the problems of ear canal standing waves in measuring DPOAEs were discussed.