This video shows you how to perform the test while keeping the patient occupied and engaged throughout the test. Note that the electrode montage of Aided Cortical testing is the same as that used for ABR testing.
You can read the full transcript below.
Transcript
This is how to perform aided cortical testing on a young child or infant.
Unaided cortical testing is performed in the same way only without the hearing devices in place.
For aided cortical testing, it's important to ensure that the patient’s hearing devices are working, switched on, and worn correctly.
The child should be seated comfortably 1.5 m away from the free field speaker in the same place used for the initial calibration.
They can be seated alone or on their adult's lap.
The patient should be awake and engaged during testing.
To keep children and infants engaged, the clinician can present toys or cartoons.
Sensory toys that light up or are interesting to touch work well for the aided cortical test.
Watching something interesting on a screen or tablet can also help keep the patient engaged.
Avoid noisy toys and videos with sound.
The aim is to keep the child still and quiet for testing but interested enough to stay seated for the full duration of the test.
The software includes three default aided cortical protocols.
You can use these for testing both the aided and unaided conditions.
Select the stimulus group, stimulus type, and intensity level that you're going to test.
Next, select the condition aided binaural, aided left, aided right, or unaided.
Press the start button to begin testing.
Monitor the EEG graph and the patient to ensure they do not become too noisy during testing.
You can press the pause button at any time to pause testing if you need to wait for the child to settle.
The waveform will appear on the software screen.
You can refer to the Fmpi™ and residual noise calculator at the top of the screen to help decide when to stop testing.
Once the waveform has stopped recording, depending on the results obtained, you can move on to testing another frequency, intensity level, or a different condition.
Use the results of the test to confirm whether the patient is getting the intended benefit of their hearing instrument or whether adjustments are needed to improve their access to speech sounds.
