Utilizing True Wireless Stereo Earbuds in Automated Pure-Tone Audiometry.
Zhenyu Guo, Guangzheng Yu, Huali Zhou and 3 others
PMID 34796771WHAT IT FOUND
Automated audiometry using Honor FlyPods earbuds did not differ overall from manual clinical audiometry. 78% of thresholds were within 10 dB, but low-frequency thresholds were higher.
Key findings
01The automated FlyPods method did not differ significantly from manual clinical audiometry overall, but paired tests showed higher hearing levels at several frequencies.
02Across all ears and frequencies, 53% of absolute threshold deviations were below 5 dB, and 78% were below 10 dB.
03With a 25 dB HL cutoff, correct classification of impaired ears was 0.95, correct classification of normal ears was 0.63, and overall accuracy was 81%.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The verification included 20 participants, and one was excluded from analysis. The authors state that this number was small. All testing was done in a soundproof booth, and the procedure did not include a noise detector. Ordinary home environments were not tested. Manual PTA was always performed before automated PTA. The authors state this unbalanced order may have biased results. The study used a pair of Honor FlyPods. Consistency across multiple pairs was not evaluated. The calibration used a head and torso simulator with anatomical pinnae. The authors state this is less robust and reliable than ear simulators. The automated test did not use contralateral masking for large left-right threshold differences. Only 9 of 152 samples had an across-ear difference larger than 30 dB. The participants had mild-to-moderate hearing loss, and one participant with severe hearing loss in one ear was excluded. Severe unilateral loss was not represented.
Declared interests
Huawei Corporation funded the work, along with the Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation and the Science and Technology Program of Guangzhou. The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that Honor FlyPods earbuds can replace clinical audiometry in ordinary home environments. The comparison was done in a soundproof booth, used a pair of Honor FlyPods, and had lower agreement at 125 and 250 Hz.