This instructional course focuses on physiologic techniques, specifically auditory brainstem response (ABR) and auditory steady-state response (ASSR) for accurate auditory threshold estimation in infants and young children. Special attention will be paid to tone burst and chirp-evoked abrs, comparing their utility with standard click stimuli. The course will provide clinical decision-making strategies for choosing stimulus types, managing calibration issues, and integrating physiologic results with limited behavioral data. The session will conclude with a brief overview of behavioral estimation methods to highlight a multimodal approach.

learning objectives:

• differentiate between click, tone burst, and chirp stimuli in ABR and understand their use in frequency-specific threshold estimation.

• apply chirp ABR in clinical settings, especially in infants, considering calibration and latency differences.

• use ASSR as a complementary or alternative tool for auditory threshold estimation.

• integrate physiologic results with limited behavioral observations to guide diagnosis.

• apply decision making protocols in medically complex or time constrained pediatric cases.

course outline:

1.     introduction (2 min): importance of accurate auditory threshold estimation in pediatric diagnostics.

2.     stimulus comparisons in ABR (8 min): click vs. Tone burst vs. Chirp; frequency specificity, temporal synchrony, and recording efficiency.

3.     chirp ABR in practice (6 min): clinical benefits, limitations, calibration issues, and interpretation strategies.

4.     ASSR applications (5 min): role in bilateral threshold estimation, especially for profound hearing loss and auditory neuropathy.

5.     behavioral correlation (5 min): how to integrate physiologic data with behavioral responses like VRA and BOA.

6.     decision making algorithms (4 min): practical case based strategies and flowcharts for clinical use.

this instructional course focuses on physiologic techniques, specifically auditory brainstem response (ABR) and auditory steady-state response (ASSR) for accurate auditory threshold estimation in infants and young children. Special attention will be paid to tone burst and chirp-evoked abrs, comparing their utility with standard click stimuli. The course will provide clinical decision-making strategies for choosing stimulus types, managing calibration issues, and integrating physiologic results with limited behavioral data. The session will conclude with a brief overview of behavioral estimation methods to highlight a multimodal approach.

course outline

1.     introduction (2 min): importance of accurate auditory threshold estimation in pediatric diagnostics.

2.     stimulus comparisons in ABR (8 min): click vs. Tone burst vs. Chirp; frequency specificity, temporal synchrony, and recording efficiency.

3.     chirp ABR in practice (6 min): clinical benefits, limitations, calibration issues, and interpretation strategies.

4.     ASSR applications (5 min): role in bilateral threshold estimation, especially for profound hearing loss and auditory neuropathy.

5.     behavioral correlation (5 min): how to integrate physiologic data with behavioral responses like VRA and BOA.

6.     decision making algorithms (4 min): practical case based strategies and flowcharts for clinical use.