Scribd
Upload
56 views11 pages

Masking Techniques

The document discusses techniques for masking sound during audiometric testing to prevent cross-hearing between ears. It describes intra-aural attenuation, criteria for assessing masking need, procedures for measuring thresholds with and without masking, and steps for conducting masked testing using appropriate narrow-band masking noise.

Uploaded by

Nivetha Ravikumar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
56 views11 pages

Masking Techniques

The document discusses techniques for masking sound during audiometric testing to prevent cross-hearing between ears. It describes intra-aural attenuation, criteria for assessing masking need, procedures for measuring thresholds with and without masking, and steps for conducting masked testing using appropriate narrow-band masking noise.

Uploaded by

Nivetha Ravikumar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 11

Masking Techniques

1
Intra Aural Attenuation
• In audiometry, both ears are tested separately.
• In air and bone conduction audiometry where
sound is applied to one ear, the contra lateral
cochlea is also stimulated by transmission
through the bones of the skull.
• In case the sound in one ear is sufficient to
stimulate the second ear, it is called cross
hearing.
• During the air conduction test, the stimuli while
passing from test ear to cochlea of the non-test
ear get attenuated.
• This loss of sound energy is called interaural
attenuation and varies between 45 to 80 dB
2
Cross Hearing
• However, during bone conduction test, the
cochleae of both sides are equally stimulated
i.e. the inter-aural attenuation is of 0 dB.
• Hence, cross hearing is a serious concern in
case of bone conduction test than it is for air
conduction.

3
Masking
• A simple procedure by which cross hearing
can be taken care of is to deliver a noise to the
non-test ear in order to remove it from the
test procedure by masking.
• Here masking noise which is loud enough to
prevent the tone reaching and stimulating the
non-test ear, but at the same time it should
not mask the sensitivity of the test ear over
masking
• Thus, an audiologist should provide
appropriate level of masking.
4
Thresholds
• Unmasked threshold is defined as the
quietest level of the signal which can be
perceived without any masking present.
• Masked threshold is the quietest level of the
signal perceived when combined with a
specific masking noise.
• The amount of masking is the difference
between the masked and not masked
thresholds
5
Masking Noise
• The masking noise is often selected to be a
wide-band noise, or narrow band noise with
the band centered about the test frequency.
• Wide-band noise has uniform power density
spectrum over all the audible frequency range
i.e. from 250 Hz to 8 kHz.
• Masking noise of choice is narrow band noise
which is a random noise such as the hiss
which is produced by a high gain audio
amplifier, but filtered to present one-third
octave band of noise centered on the test
frequency
6
Criteria to assess need of masking
• When the difference between left and right
unmasked thresholds is 40dB or more
• Where the unmasked bone conduction
threshold is at least 10 dB better than the
worst air conduction threshold
• This is necessary because sounds are
conducted through the skull with very little
loss of intensity – a sound presented through
the mastoid bone on one side of the head can
be heard at the same intensity on the other
side
7
Procedure
• Measure the threshold of masking in the non-
test ear
• Present the tone to the poor ear at unmasked
threshold level
• Introduce narrow-band masking into the good
ear at the masking signal thresold
• Now present the tone to the poor ear again

8
Steps
1. If the patient still hears the tone then increase
the masking level to the good ear in 5 dB steps
up to a maximum of 30 dB above threshold.
• If the tone is still heard, then this is considered
to be the true threshold for the poor ear.
2. If the patient does not hear the tone then
increase the intensity of the tone presented to
the poor ear in 5 dB steps until it is heard.
• Then proceed as in 1.
9
• The test is not considered satisfactory until
the tone in the poor ear can be heard for an
increase of 30 dB in the masking to the good
ear.

10
• Thank you.

11

You might also like