Practical Audiology for Otorhinolaryngologists

An interactive teaching atlas of pure tone audiometry — covering masking, SISI and tone decay testing.

This atlas teaches pure-tone audiometry from first principles through to clinical pattern recognition. Use the reading-level control in the sidebar to set the depth of every page.

Trainee Trainee-level material like this paragraph appears once you select Trainee or Clinician. Masking, SISI and tone-decay testing each build on the audiogram fundamentals.6

Modules

Foundations

  • Introduction — Why pure-tone audiometry, and how to use this atlas.
  • Anatomy & Physiology of Hearing — Outer, middle and inner ear; the auditory pathway.
  • Audiometric Technique & Calibration — The test environment, transducers, calibration and method.
  • Reading the Audiogram — Symbols, scales, and interpreting the four loss patterns.

Special Tests

  • Masking — Cross-hearing, the plateau method, and the masking dilemma.
  • SISI — The Short Increment Sensitivity Index and recruitment.
  • Tone Decay — Carhart tone decay and abnormal auditory adaptation.

Disease Patterns

  • Conductive Hearing Loss — Otosclerosis, otitis media and the air–bone gap.
  • Sensorineural Hearing Loss — Cochlear and retrocochlear sensorineural patterns.
  • Ménière's Disease — Fluctuating low-frequency loss and recruitment.
  • Noise-Induced Hearing Loss — The 3–6 kHz notch and occupational exposure.
  • Presbycusis — The sloping high-frequency loss of ageing.
  • Ototoxicity — Aminoglycoside and platinum-induced hearing loss.
  • Retrocochlear Pathology — Vestibular schwannoma and the retrocochlear signature.

Tools

  • Tools — Interactive simulators, the comparison tool and trainer.