Abstract
On-line computer methods were developed and evaluated for automated hearing testing with auditory brain stem responses (ABR). The system contained (1) a response recognition unit which recognized the presence or absence of an ABR response and (2) a threshold tracking unit which adjusted stimulus intensity and determined the ABR threshold. Two methods, one nontemplate (variance ratio) and one template (cross-correlation), were evaluated for response recognition while three threshold tracking methods were exploredclinical, Békésy, and PEST (parameter estimation by sequential testing). Both response recognition and threshold tracking units were evaluated by computer simulations for on-line operation using a standard set of experimentally recorded ABRs. The results indicated that while all the response recognition methods were reasonably accurate, their on-line use resulted in significant differences in test efficiency due to differences in tracking methods.
