Hebrew University Scientists Test Hearing With Electrodes

JERUSALEM — Hearing
tests which are among the
most reliable in the world
are performed by a new de-
vice in the Hebrew Univer-
sity's medical faculty.
This is believed to be the
first laboratory to carry out
such tests using only external
electrodes.
Dr. Harvey Sheldon Sohmer,
senior lecturer in physiology
at the faculty, and Hillel
Pratt, PhD candidate in
neurobiology, have developed
a device which, by means
of electrocochleography (re-
cording of electric activity
from the inner ear), can re-
cord electric reactions in
humans to vocal stimuli.
- like previous devices
record nervous reac-
tions, their instrument does
not require the insertion of
an electrode into the inner
ear or hearing area of the
subject's brain. Instead, it
uses a set of external elec-
trodes which receive ex-
tremely accurate nerve reac.
tions, exactly as though the
electrode were inside the
ear.
The device consists of a
set of earphones, through
which the subject hears
sounds of graduated inten-
sity; a set of electrodes
which are attached to the

earlobe, the nose and the
upper part of the head
(vertex), and which monitor
the reactions of the inner
ear and the base of the
brain to the sounds emitted
from the earphones; and a
small computer ("averaging
computer") which operates
on-line during the examina-
tion. The computer isolates
the reaction to the vocal
stimulus from outside inter-
ference or internal disturb-
ances.
A graph describing the re-
action of the auditory nerve
and that of the four "nuclei"
in the base of the brain
(which constitute the "audi-
tory tract" — the path fol-
lowed by the nervous im-
pulse from the inner ear to

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the brain) is then obtained
on the oscilloscope screen.
There are four general
categories of people whose
hearing can be better tested
by the new device than by
traditional methods. These
include infants whose moth-
ers contracted rubella (Ger-
man measles) or other ill-
nesses during pregnancy, or
where there is a history of
deafness in the family; babies
whose hearing cannot be
measured accurately because
of retardation or similar
causes; children whom stand-
ard hearing tests have shown
to be deaf, where further
proof is desired; and adults
in whom loss of hearing with
no organic cause is suspect-
ed.

The device can aid in the
determination of deafness
resulting from a growth at
the base of the brain, which
presses upon the auditory
nerve.
The Hebrew University's
hearing laboratory is the
only place in Israel where it
is possible to set up hearing
tests such as those conducted
by Dr. Sohmer. The external
electrodes do not damage
body tissue and their versa-
tility lends them to many
uses.

Value
All that is valuable in
human society depends upon
the opportunity for develop-
ment accorded the individ-
ual.—Albert Einstein.

TME DETROT JEWISH 1445

Friday, October 5, 1973 4

-

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