The Contribution of Spontaneous Otoacoustic Emissions to the Click Evoked Otoacoustic Emissions

OBJECTIVEThis investigation determines whether spontaneous otoacoustic emissions (SOAE) contribute to click evoked otoacoustic emissions (EOAE). DESIGNBilateral SOAEs and click EOAEs were recorded for 81 normal-hearing subjects by using an IL088 Otodynamic Analyzer. RESULTSResults suggest that several factors from SOUS 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. CONCLUSIONSThese 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.