Our Cutting Edge Test Battery

Assessment of hearing loss is changing. Hearing loss is a medical health condition that has long term effects on our cognition. There are also additional medical links such as hypertension, depression, and a higher risk of falls. Thus, it is imperative to be proactive about hearing healthcare. The patient needs to be assessed in many areas other than just the tones on a graph to see how to best treat the hearing loss to maintain a long, happy and healthy hearing future.

The test battery at Expert Hearing was created to spend more time with the patient assessing all of these areas to provide a whole person approach to hearing healthcare.  

1. Quick SIN (Speech in Noise testing)
   
   Difficulty with hearing in background noise is a common complaint and especially for people with hearing loss.  This testing is a measurement of signal (speech) -to-noise ratio (SNR) because it is important to assess a person’s ability to understand speech in noise since it can’t be predicted from the standard pure tone audiogram.
   
   It is part of our test battery that helps us as Doctors of Audiology guide you in the appropriate amplification or other assistive devices to help you not work hard in noise.
   
2. ACT (Audible Contrast Test) 
   
   ACT is another noise test designed to assess the affects noise has on a person’s ability to hear in noisy situations. ACT is not a tone test or a speech test. Instead, it uses modulated noise signals to determine how much ‘contrast’ a client needs to hear the difference between sounds.  This helps guide the Doctor of Audiology to the best treatment plan.
   
   The leading manufacturers of hearing devices are now using these test results to help in the programming of devices to better assist the patient in noise.
   
   Click on this link to learn more about this important ACT testing
   
3. Cognivue
   
   This is a new and amazing tool to help the Doctor of Audiology see how you process information that translates into how you are processing speech.
   
   It’s a short 10-minute test that focuses on three cognitive areas; memory, visiospatial ability, and executive function. All these areas have a direct effect on your hearing in a variety of everyday situations.
   
   Expert Hearing is one of the only clinics using this cutting-edge technology in this area and it has provided us and our patients with a new way of understanding their entire hearing system. It’s not just about the tones on a graph anymore.
   
   It’s a fabulous tool to also follow your abilities in these areas as you age and your hearing changes as well as providing vital information to help in programming your devices for the best hearing you can attain.
   
   Click on this link to learn more about Cognivue.
   
4. Verifit: Verification of the fitting of Hearing Devices 
   
   This is an objective measure of how the sound that is coming from the hearing device into your ear is changed by the actual shape or physics of your ear canal.  It is the science behind the fitting that is crucial information to get you the best personalized hearing possible.
   
   The test is administered by placing a small probe in the ear canal with the hearing device (painless) and a speech input is played at soft, moderate and loud volumes to measure if the sound is being diminished or enhanced at each frequency. This allows your hearing devices to be fine-tuned based on your specific ear canal.   In the past, these were averages taken and now it is based on each individual ear canal.
   
   Click on the link to learn more about the Verifit