Audiology & Hearing Devices

Stanford Ear Institute

   

Comprehensive Audiology Services

We provide comprehensive audiology services for a wide variety of complicated hearing and vestibular problems. Complete diagnostic services are available that include all behavioral and physiological measures related to the hearing organs, including the most advanced auditory evoked potentials and vestibular function measures.
 

A Vast Selection of Hearing Aids and Devices

Comprehensive dispensing services are available for all hearing aids and assistive listening devices including the most advanced digital hearing aids. A special emphasis is placed on providing the most advanced technologies to address communication problems caused by any type of hearing problem.

Make an Appointment

(650) 723-5281

Location
Stanford Ear Institute 
2452 Watson Court
Suite 1700
Palo Alto, CA 94303

Business Hours
Monday - Friday
8:00 am - 5:00 pm

Fax 
(650) 497-7849

Diagnostics

Auditory Diagnostics

Auditory diagnostics cover a wide variety of measures of the auditory system. These include presenting sounds from earphones or loudspeakers and asking the patient to report whether sounds are heard (detection), how loud the sounds are when they are just barely heard (threshold) and a variety of responses that relate to how clear sounds are perceived (repeat words in quiet, in noise, etc.).

Under some circumstances the sounds are presented through special devices that mechanically vibrate (bone conduction). Many other diagnostic measures involve the patient's physiologic reaction to sounds such as the ear's ability to generate its own sound (otoacoustic emissions), or the brain's ability to process sound (auditory brain stem responses, etc).

Other measures concern air pressures in the ear canal. After all of these measures are performed, a clearer understanding is attained regarding the presence or absence of various auditory system abnormalities, the location of such abnormalities along the auditory pathway from the external ear to the top of the brain, the ear's ability to hear, and in particular, the ability to hear and understand speech.

Vestibular Diagnostics

Vestibular diagnostics cover a wide variety of measures of the vestibular or balance portion of the auditory system.

These include positioning the head and body in particular ways or presenting different temperatures to the ears and determining how the balance system responds by measuring a patient's ability to maintain balance, the patient's report of dizziness, or physiologic responses such as eye movements.

After all of these measures are performed, a clearer understanding is attained regarding the location of such abnormalities along the auditory pathway from the external ear to the top of the brain, and in particular the ability the auditory system's ability to maintain balance and prevent dizziness.

What is an Audiologist?

Clinical audiologists are academically trained, licensed and certified healthcare professionals who measure and evaluate a person's ability to hear, and specialize in the treatment of hearing disorders.