Audiology
is a broad field of clinical knowledge and technology that studies the hearing and balance system. As a specialized field in the field of rehabilitation and health services, this knowledge deals with the prevention, assessment, management, audiological consultation and rehabilitation treatment of hearing damage and balance disorders and their complications. The above services are provided to the masses of infants, children, adults and the elderly, and therefore, this expansion has led to the creation of completely specialized fields in audiology. In order to know the specialized areas in the field of audiology, we should refer to the reference books in this scientific field, but in this short article, we can only give a short explanation about each of the areas of audiology that are mentioned below.
Clinical audiology
This field of audiology is dedicated to tracking and diagnosing hearing loss. A clinical audiologist is a person who knows well the place and method of using the set of audiological tests (Test Battery) in the diagnosis of hearing loss, and after performing diagnostic audiological tests and comparing their results, he can determine the possible location of the lesion in the hearing device (Site of Lesion) to recognize.
Auditory electrophysiology
This field in audiology has a history of 4-5 decades, and its scope is limited to examining the function of the cochlea and the central auditory nervous system. In general, the way of performing the tests through electrode placement on the head and recording the answer (objective) in this field is completely different from the process of recording the answer in clinical audiology. It seems that this field in audiology will gradually expand and in the coming years, the recording of electrophysiological responses will play a more serious role in the diagnosis of hearing loss and will replace the traditional methods in the diagnosis of hearing loss.
Industrial audiology
The field of industrial audiology is more concerned with examining the hearing status of people in working environments by conducting annual hearing evaluations and conducting sound level evaluations in industrial environments and performing ways to protect hearing. An audiologist working in industrial environments, in addition to conducting periodic hearing evaluations of workers and personnel working in industrial environments, provides the necessary training to workers about the harmful effects of sound, as well as guidance and awareness to them about hearing protection methods.
Hearing tests of workers and technical personnel working in factories and industrial workshops are performed by special hearing evaluation devices, which can also evaluate frequencies above 10 kHz.
Pediatric Audiology
Due to the differences between the methods of evaluating the hearing of children and adults, the field of pediatric audiology was born. The field of pediatric audiology includes the evaluation of infants and children from the age range of 1 to 28 days and up to the age of 5 years. It is certain that in the assessment of children’s hearing, attention should be paid to the psychological aspects and the way of communicating with a child, and at the same time, the way of conducting tests in children is completely different from that of adults, and therefore the field of pediatric audiology came into existence.
Rehabilitation Audiology
After diagnosing hearing loss, the need for rehabilitation measures and the best action in this field are examined and then the measures are taken for the patient as soon as possible
Although this field alone is very broad, the most important and major goal in this field is to empower the patient to overcome hearing loss and the problems caused by it.
In addition, audiology with a team and interdisciplinary approach with other members of the rehabilitation team can serve people who have personal and social limitations due to multiple disabilities.
The use of new technologies in the evaluation, diagnosis and rehabilitation of auditory and vestibular disorders, as well as the use of sound amplification systems and improving hearing performance, such as hearing aids and other hearing aids, has created an exclusive field that belongs entirely to this field. Advances in technology have now become much more widespread, so that the term tele-audiology and the advancements in this field have made the field of audiology one of the first scientific fields with technological advancements.
