Newborn Hearing Test Device

2022: Test announcement

In early November 2022, researchers from the University of Washington presented a hearing test for newborns using a smartphone. The technology is based on creating noise in the ear canal and then listening to vibrations created by specialized hair cells inside.

The researchers used cheap headphones connected to a small microphone that can listen to hair cell vibrations. Then the smartphone application analyzes the sounds and, if abnormal results appear, can advise you to contact a specialist.

Presented a device for testing the hearing of newborns using a smartphone

Conducting a hearing test in newborns is important to make sure they get the support they need if it turns out they have hearing problems. However, in many countries of the world, people do not have access to the equipment necessary to carry out such procedures.

{{quote 'There are huge health inequalities in the world! The project is to exploit the omnipresence of mobile devices that people around the world already have - smartphones and headphones for $2- $3 - and make newborn hearing testing available to everyone without compromising quality. We have developed algorithms on the phone that help us detect the signal even if there is background noise. These algorithms can run in real time on any smartphone and do not require the latest smartphone models, said one of the technology developers Shyam Gollakota. }} The traditional way to test the hearing of newborns for November 2022 is to create two different tones in the ear. This causes the hair cells in the ear to vibrate, creating a third tone. The equipment listens to this third tone to interpret the test results. However, the traditional equipment used to carry out this procedure is very expensive, in part because its speakers must be able to reproduce two different tones without any interference.

Alternatively, the researchers turned to inexpensive headphones that allow each earphone to play its tone. A small microphone is also attached to the headphones, which can listen to the returning tone from hair cells, and the smartphone app uses algorithms to analyze the results and reduce the impact of background noise and interference.^[1]

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