Audiology and hearing devices

• relate the causes of hearing loss to the different parts of the auditory system.
• explain the gold standard diagnostical approaches used in current clinical audiology including otoscopy, acoustic immitance measures, and pure tone audiometry.
• understand physiological principles and measures used in audiology, including auditory evoked potentials (auditory brainstem responses, auditory steady-state responses, cortical auditory evoked potentials, electrocochleography), and otoacoustic emissions.
• understand speech production and speech perception principles, and different types of speech perception tests.
• describe hearing aid components and hearing aid signal processing, hearing aid fitting and hearing aid verification procedures.
• discuss hearing rehabilitation with implantable devices such as cochlear implants, bone-anchored hearing aids, and middle ear implants (e.g., components, fitting, benefits, challenges).
• explain the assessment and rehabilitation of hearing loss in special populations or circumstances, such as for infants and children, remote hearing care, and tinnitus.
• discuss how technology and engineering are integrated into careers and disciplines of interest for audiology and the (medical) hearing industry.

The gold standard hearing tests that are used in clinical practice will be covered, as well as more advanced and physiological hearing tests, and hearing rehabilitation with different hearing aid types (including cochlear implants). We will also explore some of the remaining challenges in audiology today.

Lectures and exercises

For students on MSc programme in Engineering Acoustics, it is recommended to take this course together with course 22006 Acoustic Communication.