Measurement of Amplitude and Delay of Stimulus Frequency Otoacoustic Emissions

Although stimulus frequency otoacoustic emissions (SFOAEs) have been used as a non-invasive measure of cochlear mechanics, clinical and experimental application of SFOAEs has been limited by difficulties in accurately deriving quantitative information from sound pressure measured in the ear canal. In this study, a novel signal processing method for multicomponent analysis (MCA) was used to measure the amplitude and delay of the SFOAE. This report shows the delay-frequency distribution of the SFOAE measured from the human ear. A low level acoustical suppressor near the probe tone significantly suppressed the SFOAE, strongly indicating that the SFOAE was generated at characteristic frequency locations. Information derived from this method may reveal more details of cochlear mechanics in the human ear.