A probabilistic approach to quantifying DPOAE detection. Distortion product otoacoustic emission.

A number of commercial distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) systems are available. Each system uses a slightly different signal processing approach. As a result, calculations commonly used to quantify the quality of collected DPOAE data (such as noise level and signal to noise ratio) differ across systems. In this report, the theory underlying DPOAE noise estimation is reviewed and a probabilistic approach to establishing local DPOAE norms is presented. Using this approach, a DPOAE detection criterion of 15 dB estimated signal-to-noise ratio was found to yield a false negative hearing screen outcome rate of .00053 and a false positive outcome rate identical to an established transient evoked otoacoustic emission (TEOAE) based protocol. Reasons why detection criteria may vary across distortion product systems and literature reports are presented.