THE CONTRIBUTION OF SPONTANEOUS OTOACOUSTIC EMISSIONS TO THE CLICK-EVOKED OTOACOUSTIC EMISSIONS

Objective: This investigation determines whether spontaneous otoacoustic emissions (SOAE) contribute to click evoked otoacoustic emissions (EOAE). Design: Bilateral SOAEs and click EOAEs were recorded for 81 normal-hearing subjects by using an ILO88 Otodynamic Analyzer. Results: Results suggest that several factors from SOAEs contribute to the level and the shape of the click EOAE. The number, frequency, and level of SOAEs all appear to affect the click EOAE. In addition, as the number of SOAEs increased, the click EOAE response level significantly increased. For the majority of subjects with SOAEs in only one ear, the click EOAE response level was higher in the same ear. Conclusions: These findings suggest that SOAEs add to the overall EOAE response level. This likely occurs from the synchronous capturing of SOAEs during click EOAE data collection Therefore, SOAEs play an important role in the click EOAE measurement.