The parallel auditory brainstem response (pABR) is a stimulus presentation paradigm that provides diagnostic frequency-specific ABR measurements faster than traditional methods by presenting tonebursts at all test frequencies in both ears all at once, rather than one at a time. This talk will provide an overview of the pABR, with a focus on recent work that tested its accuracy and speed versus existing clinical tools.
We assessed the pABR’s accuracy by recruiting 70 adult subjects with widely varying hearing loss configurations. We ran a pABR threshold search and measured pure-tone thresholds behaviorally. The correlation between pABR and behavioral thresholds was high, with r = 0.90 (0.88–0.92). We also compared the pABR’s speed a standard clinical system in ten subjects. The pABR was faster in all subjects, with an average of 28 minutes to acquire all pABR thresholds versus 70 minutes for standard.
The pABR provides highly accurate threshold estimates in adults with hearing loss. It is substantially faster than the current standard of care. It is therefore a viable method for objective threshold estimation in adults and holds great promise for accurately diagnosing infant hearing loss while addressing the primary drawback of current methods: speed.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe the parallel ABR paradigm’s stimuli and data collection process.
- Summarize why the parallel ABR offers more place specific responses than traditional ABR at higher stimulus levels.
- Identify the advantages and disadvantages of the pABR compared to traditional ABR and the auditory steady-state response.
