Audiometer with interchangeable transducer

Abstract

An audiometer including a processor controlled test signal generator is adjustable so as to produce a uniform output signal when coupled with a transducer load. Each transducer set to be used with the test signal generator includes recordable indicia in written or electronic form, upon which correction values for adjusting the electronic signal output of the audiometer module to produce a desired sound output from the each transducer in the transducer set. When the transducer set is connected to the audiometer module, the correction values are either retrieved automatically from the electronic indicia, which may be an EEPROM, or are input to the processor manually by a user through an interface such as a keyboard. These correction values are then used by the processor to dynamically adjust the output of the audiometer to correct for sound output response deviation of each transducer in the transducer set.

Description

RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 11 / 867498 filed Oct. 4, 2007, said application hereby fully incorporated herein by reference, including Appendix A of said application.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The instant invention relates to audiometers and more specifically to calibration of audiometers and associated components.COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING APPENDIX[0003]A computer program listing was submitted as Appendix A to the parent application Ser. No. 11 / 867498, the computer program listing consisting of ASCII text files submitted electronically via the USPTO EFS-Web system. Said Appendix A includes the following files:TITLESIZE IN BYTESDATE OF CREATIONAppendixA.txt9,885Oct. 04, 2007[0004]The entire contents of Appendix A of said parent application is hereby incorporated by reference, including without limitation, the aforementioned files.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0005]Audiometers for testing the hearing of human subjects have been in wid...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

A drawback of these prior art audiometer systems arises when transducers are lost or damaged.

This, however, is not a completely satisfactory solution since the transducers and test signal generator must still have been once physically connected.

Also, once supply of spare transducers is depleted, new transducers need to be matched by recalibration on site or at a repair facility.

For the user, if a backup audiometer with calibrated transducer is not available, the result is extended downtime when the audiometer is not available for use.

Moreover, it is often not economically feasible to maintain backups because of the relatively high cost of precision automatic audiometers.

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