Audiometers for children (newborns). TOP 5 rating in Europe and Ukraine

The technical characteristics and features of the most common devices in Ukraine for the objective diagnosis of hearing in children, produced by such leading countries in the field of audiology as Germany and Denmark, are compared.

Application: objective diagnosis of hearing in young children, including newborns (hearing screening).

Diagnostic methods for hearing screening in newborns. To date, there are 3 main reliable methods for detecting hearing impairment in children.

1. Otoacoustic emission of DPOAE or ECHPI distortion products
2. Delayed evoked otoacoustic emission TEOAE or PTE
3. Automatic short-latency auditory evoked potentials QABR or ABR.

Each of the methods complements and eliminates possible errors in the diagnosis of hearing with the help of another method. Therefore, combined devices, which can accommodate more modules for different methods of testing children’s hearing, certainly have an advantage over devices with a single module (for example, DPOAE or TEOAE).

So, our rating of modern Audiometers for newborns* is presented below.

On the 1st place in the rating of audiometers for children is a device manufactured by PATH Medical GmbH (Germany) – Audiometer QScreen. Today it is the fastest, and perhaps the most accurate tool for testing hearing function in newborns and children. The following advantages allowed him to take a leading position in our rating:

QSCREEN AUDIOMETER FEATURES

– New UAE slim probe with noise reduction and two microphones, reducing the sensitivity to ambient noise up to 12dB; Up to 50% faster testing time

– Unparalleled design and performance for hearing screening with ABR/ABR and OAE

-Simplified data entry with QSCREEN high resolution camera, barcode and QR code detection engine.

-Universal UAE screening platform: TEOAE and DPOAE; FMDPOAE

-High performance ABR/ABR screening: Fast and reliable automatic ABR recording.

-Wireless data transfer via Bluetooth to the docking station; Wireless printing

– Wireless charger; Connecting a wireless modem to pathTrack.

2. On the 2nd place in the ranking is the Sentiero Advanced Audiometer, the same German manufacturer. This device allows you to install all known modules for hearing diagnostics. One device “fits”: DPOAE and TEOAE otoacoustic emission, screening and diagnostic bilateral ABRs, ASSR computer audiometry, impedancemetry, and even subjective tone and speech audiometry. The device is constantly updated when connected to the Mira PC program and will not become obsolete even 10 years after its purchase!

SENTIERO ADVANCED AUDIOMETER FEATURES

– Possibilities of screening and diagnostics of hearing in children and adults

-Full color user friendly touch screen

– Battery operated – portability and flexibility

– Large memory (stores more than 1000 tests)

-Extremely fast, thanks to advanced technology and patented methods

-Objective and subjective diagnostics in one device

– Various configurations are available to provide either ABR/ABR alone or a combination of ABR/ABR, ASSR, OAE, tone and speech audiometry at the screening or diagnostic level.

– The ability to assess the threshold of hearing by ASSR and DPOAE methods allows you to get a complete audiogram in the frequency range from 250 Hz to 8 kHz in an objective and fully automated procedure!

The “disadvantage” of the first two audiometers is their price, especially in the complete set. Therefore, the German manufacturer offers a screening device at a more affordable price, which occupies the 3rd position in our rating.

3. The SENTIERO SCREENING audiometer takes a confident 3rd place in the rating due to its affordable price, a convenient 3.5-inch touch screen, fast charging up to 100% in 2 hours, and the following features:

– Fast DPOAE screening, multi-channel including FMDPOAE frequency modulation

– Pure tone audiometry (screening), stimulus types include tone, pulse and trill,

-Standard DPOAE multi-channel screening including FMDPOAE, 55/65dB, SNR 6dB. It is also possible to install the TEOAE emission module.

4. The 4th place in the ranking is occupied by the device for registration of otoacoustic emissions OtoRead, manufactured by Interacoustics, Denmark. The advantages of the device are its compact size, light weight, the ability to connect a wireless printer for printing. However, a small non-touch display, control of the Prior using 4 buttons located below the screen and a rather high price do not allow it to rise higher in our rating.

5. Closes our top five Audiometer “with a visual range” ERO SCAN, manufactured by MAICO Diagnostics, Germany. In fact, this device, in terms of its main technical characteristics and features, is an almost complete copy of the device that occupies the 4th place in the rating. A similar small display, without the possibility of touch control. The same 4 buttons, which are located below the display, are used to control the device. At the user’s choice, the device can be equipped with DPOAE or TEOAE otoacoustic emission. Despite the slightly outdated functionality of the device and its “visual range”, this device, due mainly to its German origin, remains quite popular in Ukraine.

*According to European audiologists.