Objective Assessment Of Hearing Loss In Neonates

Abstract

Deafness, which refers to varying degrees of hearing loss, is one of the most common sensory disorders. Deafness has become a global public health problem and significantly a baby's development can be affected by hearing loss. Better chance of developing language, speech and communication skills, when finding these in early stages. Audiometry is a test that evaluates the hearing ability of a person with the application of sound stimulus at different frequencies and intensities. Implementing the hearing screening technique, infants with hearing loss can be identified within the first few months of their birth. The hearing loss can be detected by recording and processing the Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) in response to the given stimulus which is sent inside the ear. ABR signal consist of conduction pathway of hearing, if absence of any wave in this signal infers/ locates where the conduction is truncated. In this Work, ABR signals are acquired through Electroencephalogram (EEG) hardware where DAQ acts as a driver that drives the acquired signal from EEG hardware to LabView, and then using Audiometer trigger signals are generated. The acquired EEG signal is then processed and analysed using LabView which could aid for the detection of hearing loss.