The Effects of Blast Trauma (Impulse Noise) on Hearing: A Parametric Study
Abstract
There are three broad goals to this project. The first and primary goal is to begin the systematic development of a data base from which one could estimate the hazards to hearing resulting from exposure to blast waves or other high level impulse noise transients. To achieve this primary objective the following two objectives must first be achieved: (1) to develop a methodology to efficiently acquire data on a large number of experimental animals that have been exposed to a variety of blast wave configurations. This includes audiometric, histological and acoustic variables; (2) to develop a set of blast wave simulation devices which can reliably generate blast waves with a variable distribution of spectral energy in a laboratory environment. This report will describe progress that was achieved on each of these objectives. Data acquisition was completed on 40 chinchillas that were exposed to one of a series of very low frequency (125 Hz) energy-content blast wave exposure paradigms. This data represents the completion of the first of four phases of a parametric study that was designed to estimate the contributions of individual blast wave exposure variables on the production hearing loss. Hearing function was measured using the auditory evoked potential (AEP) technique. The evaluation of hearing consisted of pre- and postexposure measurements of pure tone thresholds and tuning curves (masked thresholds). Keywords: Blast effects; Blast waves; Hearing; Ear.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 22, 1988
- Accession Number
- ADA206180
Entities
People
- George A. Turrentine
- Robert I. Davis
- Roger P. Hamernik
- William A. Ahroon
Organizations
- State University of New York