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10/13/2017  |   9:10 AM - 10:10 AM   |  East Ballroom at Shalala Student Services Building

Wireless OAE Probe for Increasing Access to Hearing Health

Unidentified hearing loss at birth and in early childhood can significantly affect speech and language development, as well as academic, social, and emotional fulfillment later in life. Globally, according to the world health organization, about 80% of the world population with a moderate-to-profound hearing loss is living in low- and middle-income countries. Hearing loss is considered the most prevalent disabling condition globally and many losses are not identified early, when intervention could prevent lifelong disability. Hearing screening with otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) has the potential to help identify hearing loss very early. Experience in low-income populations and developing countries reveals the need for a low-cost OAE device that is tolerant of ambient noise. We developed a wireless OAE prototype that communicates with a mobile device. The probe is small enough to fit underneath noise-attenuating earmuffs to reduce the impact of ambient noise on the measurement. By relying on the mobile device for the caregiver interface, the OAE probe only needs electronics to generate the appropriate acoustic stimuli, process the measured sound in the ear canal, and communicate results to the mobile device wirelessly. Even in low-resource communities, mobile technologies are becoming surprisingly prevalent, making this approach practical. We measured distortion product OAEs in 20 healthy subjects with normal hearing, using both the prototype and a GSI 70 OAE system. When comparing the signal-to-noise ratio of the prototype with the commercial system, there were no significant differences between the two. Absolute OAE levels at the three frequencies that were common to both systems were very similar. We conclude that the prototype provided comparable results at a fraction of the size and manufacturing cost of a typical commercial system. Results from this study, current state of development and envisioned challenges to reaching the target populations will be presented.

• Understand what part of the hearing system distortion product otoacoustic emissions screening targets.
• Describe hurdles to performing otoacoustic emission screening in developing countries.
• Understand how mobile devices may be used to simplify (and thus reduce cost of) hardware required to perform otoacoustic emission screening.

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Odile Clavier (POC,Primary Presenter,Author,Co-Author), Creare, ohc@creare.com;
Odile Clavier received her bachelor’s degree from Florida Tech and her master’s and Ph.D. from Stanford University in the department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. For her graduate research, she developed a high precision superconducting sensor for the accelerometer to be flown on the Satellite Test of the Equivalence Principle (STEP). Since joining Creare, she has been the Principal Investigator for several biomedical applications, in particular the development of hearing assessment systems, including innovative testing techniques as well a new technology for use in the field and in non-clinical environments.

ASHA DISCLOSURE: Financial - Nonfinancial -

AAA DISCLOSURE: Financial - No relevant financial relationship exists.

Jesse Norris (Co-Author), Creare, jan@creare.com;
Dr. James (Jesse) Norris graduated for the School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences, a collaborative effort between Virginia Tech and Wake Forest University. At Creare, he is involved in hearing assessment and acoustics, image processing and dynamic signal analysis.

ASHA DISCLOSURE: Financial - Nonfinancial -

AAA DISCLOSURE: Financial - No relevant financial relationship exists.

Catherine Rieke (Co-Author), Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Catherine.C.Rieke@hitchcock.org;
Catherine Rieke is a clinical and research audiologist at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.

ASHA DISCLOSURE: Financial - Nonfinancial -

AAA DISCLOSURE: Financial - No relevant financial relationship exists.

Abigail Fellows (Co-Author), Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Abigail.M.Fellows@dartmouth.edu;

ASHA DISCLOSURE: Financial - Nonfinancial -

AAA DISCLOSURE: Financial - No relevant financial relationship exists.

Jay Buckey (Author,Co-Author), Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Jay.C.Buckey.Jr@Dartmouth.EDU;
Dr. Buckey is a Professor of Medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, and has a long-standing research interest in the use of otoacoustic emissions for the early detection of hearing damage. He has worked closely with Creare LLC on projects that have evaluated otoacoustic emissions in a variety of settings, including Tanzania and Nicaragua. He is currently the Principal Investigator on a grant evaluating techniques, including otoacoustic emssions, for the early detection of noise-induced hearing loss.

ASHA DISCLOSURE: Financial - Nonfinancial -

AAA DISCLOSURE: Financial - No relevant financial relationship exists.

James E. Saunders (Co-Author), Geisel School of Medicine, James.E.Saunders@hitchcock.org;
Dr. James E. Saunders is an Professor of Otology / Neurotology at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. He completed an M.D. at University of Oklahoma, Residency Training and a Research Fellowship in Otolaryngology at Duke University Medical Center, and a Research and Clinical Fellowship at the House Ear Institute in Los Angeles. In addition to an active clinical practice and teaching responsibilities, Dr. Saunders has published many articles on sudden sensorineural hearing loss, the microbiology of chronic otitis, hearing loss genetics, surgical management of ear disease, and the epidemiology of hearing loss. He serves as an Associate Editor for the Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery journal and as a reviewer for many other scientific journals Dr. Saunders has been involved with many projects related to the etiology, prevention and treatment of hearing loss in the developing world including collaborations with the World Health Organization and the Global Burden of Disease Project. He currently serves as the Coordinator for International Affairs for the American Academy of Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF) and is the former Chairman of Humanitarian Efforts and Regional Advisor for Africa for the AAO-HNSF. In 1999, he co-founded Mayflower Medical Outreach, an organization that supports and trains otolaryngology and audiology providers in Nicaragua. He has published many articles on the prevalence and etiology of hearing loss in Nicaragua and has worked closely with the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health and other NGO’s to develop a comprehensive public health plan to improve hearing loss services. He co-founded and currently serves as the co-chair for the Coalition for Global Hearing Health, an international multidisciplinary organization dedicated to hearing loss in underserved areas of the world.

ASHA DISCLOSURE: Financial - Nonfinancial -

AAA DISCLOSURE: Financial - No relevant financial relationship exists.