Comparing laboratory and portable tone-burst auditory brain-stem-response (abr) systems for monitoring high-frequency (8 khz) auditory function

Comparing laboratory and portable tone-burst auditory brain-stem-response (ABR) systems for monitoring high-frequency (8 kHz) auditory function. Fausti, S.A., Frey, R.H., Henry, J.A. and Olson, D.J. (Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, PVAMC Auditory Research Laboratory, Portland, Oregon, USA). Scand Audiol 1992; 21: 211-217. High-frequency (8-20 kHz) hearing sensitivity is of special interest because of its early warning potential for ototoxicity. Many ill patients, however, are unable to respond behavior-ally to auditory test procedures. To objectively monitor high-frequency auditory function in these patients, laboratory instrumentation to evoke the auditory brain-stem response (ABR) with high-frequency (8-14 kHz) tone-burst stimuli was developed and documented. To provide evaluation at bedside, a portable high-frequency tone-burst generator was developed to elicit the ABR. Combined with a portable signal averager, this system was validated by comparison with the laboratory system. Thirty-five normal-hearing subjects were used to compare ABRs to high-frequency tone bursts from each system. Analysis of responses to tone bursts revealed no significant mean latency differences, and no significant inter-session reliability differences between systems. These results confirm that the portable system is comparable to the laboratory system in obtaining reliable high-frequency tone-burst responses.