Linearity of sound transmission through the human skull in vivo

J Acoust Soc Am. 1996 Apr;99(4 Pt 1):2239-43. doi: 10.1121/1.415411.

Abstract

The linearity of sound propagation through the human skull was investigated. One male subject, equipped with bilateral skin-penetrating titanium fixtures for attachment of bone-anchored hearing aids, was studied thoroughly. Three different methods were used: comparison of the frequency response functions estimated at different signal levels (using stepped sine as well as random noise), comparison of the coherence function at different signal levels (using random noise), and the Hilbert transform of the estimated frequency response function. Frequencies from 0.1 to 10 kHz and signal levels up to 77 dB HL at discrete frequencies were used. No indication of any significant nonlinear behavior was found with the three methods used.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Clinical Trial
  • Controlled Clinical Trial

MeSH terms

  • Bone Conduction / physiology*
  • Hearing Aids
  • Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / physiopathology
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Skull / physiology*
  • Sound*
  • Titanium

Substances

  • Titanium