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Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology

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Open Access 01-10-2012 | Research Article

Measurements of Wide-Band Cochlear Reflectance in Humans

Authors: Daniel M. Rasetshwane, Stephen T. Neely

Published in: Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology | Issue 5/2012

Abstract

The total sound pressure measured in the ear canal may be decomposed into a forward- and a reverse-propagating component. Most of the reverse-propagating component is due to reflection at the eardrum. However, a measurable contribution to the reverse-propagating component comes from the cochlea. Otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) are associated with this component and have been shown to be important noninvasive probes of cochlear function. Total ear-canal reflectance (ECR) is the transfer function between forward and reverse propagating components measured in the ear canal. Cochlear reflectance (CR) is the inner-ear contribution to the total ECR, which is the measured OAE normalized by the stimulus. Methods are described for measuring CR with a wide-band noise stimulus. These measurements offer wider bandwidth and minimize the influence of the measurement system while still maintaining features of other OAEs (i.e., frequency- and level-dependent latency). CR magnitude decreases as stimulus level increases. Envelopes of individual band-limited components of the time-domain CR have multiple peaks with latencies that persist across stimulus level, despite a shift in group delay. CR has the potential to infer cochlear function and status, similar to other OAE measurements.

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Title: Measurements of Wide-Band Cochlear Reflectance in Humans
Authors: Daniel M. Rasetshwane
Stephen T. Neely
Publication date: 01-10-2012
Publisher: Springer-Verlag
Published in: Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology / Issue 5/2012
Print ISSN: 1525-3961
Electronic ISSN: 1438-7573
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10162-012-0336-1

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