The Audiology Laboratory operating within Üsküdar University is a fully equipped clinical and research unit established for the prevention, early diagnosis, and scientifically based rehabilitation of hearing and balance disorders.
What is the Audiology Laboratory? / What is its Purpose?
Core Purpose: The primary purpose of the Audiology Laboratory is to comprehensively evaluate hearing and balance functions in children, infants, and adults using objective and behavioral test batteries. The laboratory aims to identify the source and severity of problems in patients presenting with hearing loss or balance complaints, provide diagnostic support to Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) physicians, and plan and manage hearing aid or cochlear implant integration and vestibular rehabilitation processes.
Key Features: The services provided in the laboratory are carried out by audiologists, who are licensed healthcare professionals specializing in audiology. Our center offers both objective (physiological/electrophysiological) and subjective (behavioral) tests, providing services across a broad clinical spectrum ranging from newborn hearing screening to balance rehabilitation for older adults.
Equipment and Technical Facilities Available in the Laboratory
Key Features: The Üsküdar University Audiology Laboratory is equipped with specially designed soundproof booths and advanced electrophysiological modules to ensure the highest level of clinical accuracy. The equipment and technical infrastructure actively used in the laboratory are as follows:
- Soundproof Booths and Audiometry Systems: Specially insulated areas where pure-tone, speech, sound-field, and play audiometry tests are performed for pediatric and adult patients, free from environmental noise.
- Videonystagmography (VNG) System: An advanced balance assessment system that monitors the pathways between visual information and the vestibular system in the inner ear, as well as dizziness caused by changes in position, using infrared camera-equipped goggles.
- Caloric Test Equipment: A system used to assess the vestibular system by measuring nystagmus (involuntary eye movements) responses generated by warming and cooling the external ear canal.
- Electrophysiological Measurement Modules (ABR/EP Units): Advanced electrophysiological diagnostic units that record electrical responses generated by the auditory nerve and auditory centers in the brain through electrodes.
- Otoacoustic Emissions (OAE) Device: A device equipped with TEOAE and DPOAE modules for objectively assessing the mechanical function of the outer hair cells in the inner ear.
- Acoustic Immittance Measurement Device: An objective testing system that analyzes middle ear mechanics, the eardrum, and auditory reflex pathways.
- Automated ABR (A-ABR) Screening Device: An automated electrophysiological device used for hearing screening in newborn infants.
- Real-Ear Measurement (REM) Device: A verification unit used to assess the acoustic settings and accuracy of hearing aids within an individual's ear canal.
Research and Application Areas
Academic Contribution: The test procedures and rehabilitation protocols conducted in the laboratory consist of test batteries customized according to the needs of pediatric and adult age groups.
1. Pediatric Audiological Applications
- Behavioral Hearing Tests: Techniques applied according to the age and attention level of infants and children to determine the lowest sound level they can hear (hearing threshold), including Behavioral Observation Audiometry (BOA), Visual Reinforcement Audiometry (VRA), and Play Audiometry.
- Pediatric Objective Measurements: Acoustic Immittance, Speech Audiometry, and Otoacoustic Emissions tests used to assess the function of inner ear hair cells.
- Newborn Hearing Screening: Automated ABR (A-ABR) screenings performed during the first days following birth.
- Electrophysiological Hearing Assessments: Assessment of responses from the auditory nerve and auditory centers in the brain through electrodes using Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR), MLR, LLR, MMN, P300, and ASSR tests.
2. Adult Audiological Applications
- Routine and Specialized Hearing Assessments: Pure-Tone and Speech Audiometry, Acoustic Immittance, and Otoacoustic Emissions measurements.
- Advanced Electrophysiological Assessments: Electrophysiological measurements that monitor the processing of sound along the auditory nerve and within the auditory centers of the brain, including ABR, MLR, LLR, MMN, P300, and ASSR.
- Tinnitus Assessment: Audiological analyses aimed at characterizing tinnitus and determining its severity.
- Balance Disorders and Vestibular Rehabilitation: Identification of the underlying causes of dizziness and balance disorders based on Videonystagmography (VNG) subtests and caloric test results, followed by rehabilitation using exercise protocols appropriate to the individual's condition.
- Hearing Aid Verification: Analysis of hearing aid functions and sound-field performance using the REM device.
Benefits for Students and the Healthcare Sector
- Practical Clinical Experience: The laboratory enables students of the Audiology Department at Üsküdar University to transform their theoretical knowledge into practical experience through applications involving real patients and clinical cases.
- Multidisciplinary Diagnostic Support: The laboratory provides an objective flow of clinical data by working in full integration with healthcare specialties such as Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT), neurology, and pediatrics.
- Advanced Vestibular Rehabilitation Competence: The laboratory contributes to the training of well-equipped audiologists who can use modern balance assessment technologies, such as VNG and caloric testing, and provide individualized exercise guidance in response to the needs of the healthcare sector.
