Fast and robust objective EEG audiometry

The current ‘gold standard’ of audiometry relies on subjective behavioral responses, which is impractical and unreliable for certain groups such as children, individuals with severe disabilities, or the disabled elderly. This study presents a novel electroencephalography (EEG) system that is easy to setup and estimates audiometric thresholds quickly. Air-conduction audiometric thresholds at 250, 500, 1000, 2000, 4000, and 8000 Hz and 5 dB resolution were estimated from ten elderly patients with asymmetric sensorineural hearing loss and five normal hearing young adults using three different systems: the novel EEG system, conventional pure-tone audiometry (PTA), and an automated behavioral test with the same stimulus properties as in the EEG test. EEG data was collected for 15 minutes from 32 semi-dry EEG electrodes. Later, the EEG system was trimmed to 8 electrodes and 7.5 minutes of data with satisfactory results. Correlation and regression analysis validated the hearing thresholds derived from both EEG configurations relative to the behavioral hearing thresholds–Pearson’s correlation of 0.82 between PTA and 8-electrode 7.5-minute EEG data. The results of this study open the door to fast and objective hearing threshold estimation with EEG.