Late Breaking Results: Can You Hear Me? Towards an Ultra Low-Cost Hearing Screening Device

Abstract

Hearing screening devices emit an acoustic signal in the outer ear, which invokes a specific response from a healthy inner ear. However, the high cost of such devices prevents widely deploying them in schools or private homes, especially in developing countries. In this paper, we for the first time show that such tests are also feasible with a device that consists of only one speaker for emitting the signal and using the same speaker - now as a microphone - for also recording the response. Existing devices rely on a speaker and microphone pair, which makes them significantly more complex and costly. We further outline the embedded systems and signal processing challenges that such a setup entails. If successful, it has the potential to make hearing screening available to a much wider population in developing countries.