Evoked Otoacoustic Emissions in Normal Hearing Adults

Evoked otoacoustic emissions (eOAEs) are considered to be due to energy leakage from cochlear traveling waves and studies on eOAEs may help to clarify the normal cochlear functions and the cochlear pathology in several disease through noninvasive and objective means. In the present study, several parameters of eOAEs, such as “total echo power” and “reproducibility” proposed by Kemp, were evaluated on 40 adults (80 ears) with normal hearing to estimate the clinical usefulness of these parameters.Although the “total echo power” has a wide variation among normal subjects, the relationship between the “total echo power” and the “reproducibility” was relatively stable in normal subjects. From the evaluation of the parameters, a normal range of the “total echo power”, was set up in relation to the “reproducibility” of responses.When using this method of analysis, these parameter s are considered to be useful in clinical application and eOAEs are expected to be a diagnostic tool for some cochlear dysfunctions such as Meniere's disease.