Otoacoustic emissions: fundamental principles and clinical application (literature review)

Abstract

In clinical practice otoacoustic emission (OAE) tests are used to determine cochlear status, specifically hair cells function. This test is widely used in (1) hearing screening; (2) differentiation between the sensory and neural components of sensorineural hearing loss. Today, this is one of the main tests applied in audiological diagnostics along with impedancemetry, pure tone audiometry, auditory evoked potentials. Understanding the subtle processes that occur in the cochlea during the transmission of acoustic stimuli which generate OAEs is significant for analysis of the reasons of OAEs absence. It is crucial for both accurate diagnosis and choosing treatment, (re)habilitating approach for hearing impaired people. Contemporary understanding of the occurrence of auditory sensations as well as the description of various types of OAEs and their clinical application are presented in the review.