The Latency of Distortion Product Otoacoustic Emissions in Normal Ears / 대한이비인후과학회지

ABSTRACT

Distortion-Product Otoacoustic Emissions(DPOAEs) are thought to be generated from the cochlear outer hair cells. DPOAEs can be measured in the external ear canal twofoldamplitude and latency. However, most DPOAE studies deal with amplitude aspects. If DPOAE latency is related to the progression of the traveling wave along the basilar membrane, it may also reflect the cochlear function. The purpose of this study was to investigate if the latency measurement could be used as a clinical test of hearing. For this purpose, DPOAE latency measures were examined as a function of frequency from 1 to 8 kHz in 38 normal ears from 19 adults(7 females and 12 males). Results showed that the latency decreased as frequency increased up to 6 kHz. Test/retest reliability was relatively high in 4-6 kHz and the lowest at 1 kHz. There was no gender effect for all test frequencies. The results suggest that the measurement of DPOAE latency has a clinical potential, but more data be obtained before it can be clinically used.