Mobile software Apps support personalized-SRO and serial monitoring with results indicating early detection of hearing loss

This paper presents an overview of key software applications implemented for our mobile, full-frequency-range, auditory testing system which is designed to detect changes in hearing sensitivity due to treatment with ototoxic medications. The system can be used efficiently in remote locations such as hospital wards, out-patient clinics, and industrial settings, as well as in patient homes to monitor for hearing change and also to perform general audiometric hearing threshold testing at frequencies out to 20kHz. We believe the system is the world´s first instrument specifically designed to support the Sensitive Range for Ototoxicity (SRO), a shortened serial hearing monitoring protocol which has been shown sensitive and reliable in detecting early hearing change. The primary focus of this paper is to present a functional overview of the main mobile software application designed to support the SRO hearing monitoring protocol. Serial monitoring information for an actual patient is used to illustrate how the main software application is used to monitor and detect hearing change. Analysis of the patient´s SRO monitoring data demonstrates the system´s efficacy in detecting hearing threshold change. Overviews of two other support applications, one used for system calibration in the acoustics laboratory, and one used for acoustic performance verification in the field are also included.