Reliability of a Portable Audiometric Device Based on Active Noise-Canceling Headphones for Clinical Hearing Assessment

Part One: Research Background Globally, approximately 500 million people suffer from disabling hearing loss, accounting for about 6.8% of the world's population. Hearing loss has emerged as a major global health issue. The cornerstone of hearing loss prevention and protection lies in hearing level testing. Early detection and intervention are crucial components of hearing healthcare. Currently, pure tone audiometry serves as the gold standard for hearing level testing, requiring patients to visit a hospital's standard soundproof room and complete the test under the guidance of a professional audiologist. However, existing professional audiometers are bulky, consume high power, and necessitate soundproof rooms (with background noise \<30dBA), among other drawbacks. Moreover, primary hospitals or units lack professional audiologists and soundproof rooms, making it impossible to diagnose and treat hearing loss. Therefore, a portable hearing testing device that does not require a soundproof room would be a boon for the diagnosis and treatment of hearing loss patients. Currently, Wuhan Douting Technology Co., Ltd. has produced a portable hearing testing device (E200), supporting frequencies from 125Hz to 16000Hz, covering both conventional and extended high frequencies. The frequency tolerance, total harmonic distortion, and accuracy of hearing levels fully meet the technical requirements of Grade 4 audiometers according to national standards. In addition to meeting the functional and performance requirements of general audiometers, this device offers the following technical advantages and innovations: 1. Combining active and passive noise reduction, it achieves comprehensive noise reduction of over 29dBSPL, allowing for audiometry in environments with background noise \<60dBA; 2. Supporting extended high frequencies, it can detect potential hearing damage earlier; 3. Supporting audiometry for rapid use by non-professionals, with automatic calibration, allowing non-profe