News
29/10/2015: Invitation to a ECho Initiative Seminar
MIRRORED from the ECHO Initiate Web site:
We invite you to join the Early Childhood Hearing Outreach (ECHO) Initiative for an intermediate webinar focusing on Otoacoustic Emissions (OAE) hearing screening. Early Head Start (EHS) programs already using OAE screening will have a chance to examine effective screening and follow-up practices. Staff can reflect on their own experiences and ask questions. They can also learn to improve screening skills and the administration of OAE hearing screening protocols.
Topics for the webinar include:
- Obtaining a good probe fit
- Strategies for screening young children
- Screening and follow-up protocols
- Reporting children identified with
permanent hearing loss
20/10/2015: Multiple frequency Tympanograms educational Video
In late 2014 Interacoustics launched the Titan portable device, capable of recording OAEs and impedance tympanometry at various frequencies. The novelty of Titan was the way Interacoustics selected to represent the tympanometric data, coined as wideBand Tympanometry. There is nothing new to the approach , the data from each tested tympanometric frequency are stacked in a 3D format , showing the areas of the middle ear where we have maximum absorbance and minimum reflectance of the incident acoustic energy.
Recently Interacoustics built a video explaining the functionality of Wideband Tympanometry which can be a useful aid in the classroom and in the clinic.
15/10/2015: ECHO Initiative : Webinar on Hearing and Hearing Loss for the Layman
- Anatomy of the ear
- Types of hearing loss
- Prevalence and causes of hearing loss
- Diagnostic tools and procedures
- Audiogram fundamentals
- Hearing loss simulation
- Treatment and intervention options
12/10/2015: Meetings and Conferences
The Meetings and Conferences pages have been updated with the latest information about the HEaring Across Lifespan (HEAL) meeting , at lake Como (Italy) in the period June 2-4 2016.
02/10/2015: Hearing Screening for Life movement in the UK
There is a considerable interest in the scientific community regarding the impact of hearing deficits in the quality of life for adults > 65 y. There is a movement in the UK called "Hearing Screening for life" , which aims at informing the general public and the British government about hearing issues in the elderly life. Screening in this context is not the same as it is for the neonatal population (OAEs, ABR etc), but it follows standard audiological paradigms (pure tone testing, immitance tympanometry etc).
Data from the UK movement suggest the following: "A recent cost-benefit analysis found that hearing screening would cost an estimated £255 million over ten years, but the benefits across this period would amount to over £2 billion . A proactive introduction of hearing screening will have a host of follow on benefits and will echo the government’s focus on prevention and early intervention".