The Parallel Auditory Brainstem Response.
Melissa J Polonenko, Ross K Maddox
PMID 31516096WHAT IT FOUND
A new hearing test recorded brainstem responses to five frequencies in both ears at once.
In normal-hearing adults, it produced standard waveforms and reached a preset noise level in a median 4.6 min, versus 30.1 min for serial testing.
Key findings
01The parallel ABR produced typical brainstem waveforms across frequencies and intensities, with response morphology strongly resembling traditional methods.
02To reach 20 nV residual noise, pABR took a median 4.6 min, while serial recording took a median 30.1 min, with a median speedup ratio of 6.0.
03At 45 dB peSPL, pABR was faster than serial recording for all nine subjects, with median times of 4.60 min and 7.81 min and a median speedup ratio of 2.99.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
Ten healthy adults were studied, not infants, children, or people with hearing loss. The study did not test threshold estimation in patients, and the authors say future studies are needed for that. The serial comparison was done only in the right ear, with the left ear assumed to behave the same. The reported times depend on the chosen noise criterion; the authors note that using +3 dB SNR instead of 0 dB SNR would double the times. Two subjects did not complete both sessions, and one recording was excluded for poor quality, so the analyzed sample was smaller than the recruited sample. Some artifact controls used laboratory equipment that clinics likely will not adopt.
Declared interests
The supplied text lists NIH extramural research support. It does not state author conflicts.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that pABR is ready for clinical use in infants or that it has been shown to improve diagnosis or treatment timing. The study tested a laboratory method in normal-hearing adults, not patients with hearing loss, and it did not estimate behavioral thresholds.