Systems, methods and products for diagnostic hearing assessments distributed via the use of a computer network
First Claim
1. A method for performing a hearing evaluation test over a computer network, comprising the steps of:
- administering a hearing evaluation test to a patient using a computer network, the hearing evaluation test comprising a plurality of hearing assessment signals at selected frequencies and hearing levels;
transmitting commands from a test administration site to a local patient testing site during said administering step;
generating the hearing assessment signals at the local patient site in response to said transmitting step;
interactively relaying information between the patient located at the local site and a clinician located at the test administration site during said administering step so that the clinician can evaluate the patient'"'"'s response to the hearing assessment signals, the test administration site being remote from the local site; and
controlling the output of the hearing assessment signals during the administering step such that the clinician at the test administration site determines which hearing assessment signals of the generating step are relayed locally to the patient.
5 Assignments
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Accused Products
Abstract
The systems, methods and associated devices performing diagnostic hearing tests which use a computer network to allow interaction between a test administration site and one or a plurality of remote patient sites. The test can be administered by an audiologist or clinician at a site remote from the patient, in a manner, which can allow interaction between the user and the clinician during at least a portion of the administration of the test. The diagnostic hearing tests can be performed such that they meet standardized guidelines such as ANSI requirements or certification standards and can include distortion product emission level measurements or middle ear compliance measurements.
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Citations
68 Claims
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1. A method for performing a hearing evaluation test over a computer network, comprising the steps of:
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administering a hearing evaluation test to a patient using a computer network, the hearing evaluation test comprising a plurality of hearing assessment signals at selected frequencies and hearing levels;
transmitting commands from a test administration site to a local patient testing site during said administering step;
generating the hearing assessment signals at the local patient site in response to said transmitting step;
interactively relaying information between the patient located at the local site and a clinician located at the test administration site during said administering step so that the clinician can evaluate the patient'"'"'s response to the hearing assessment signals, the test administration site being remote from the local site; and
controlling the output of the hearing assessment signals during the administering step such that the clinician at the test administration site determines which hearing assessment signals of the generating step are relayed locally to the patient. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A method for performing a hearing evaluation test over a computer network, comprising the steps of:
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administering a hearing evaluation test to a patient using a computer network, the hearing evaluation test comprising a plurality of hearing assessment signals at selected frequencies and hearing levels;
transmitting commands from a test administration site to a local patient testing site during said administering step;
generating the hearing assessment signals at the local patient site in response to said transmitting step;
interactively relaying information between the patient located at the local site and a clinician located at the test administration site during said administering step so that the clinician can evaluate the patient'"'"'s response to the hearing assessment signals, the test administration site being remote from the local site; and
wherein the computer network is a global computer network, and wherein the interactively relaying information step is carried out to allow the clinician to selectively initiate a second test stimuli after receiving a patient'"'"'s response to a first test stimuli during said administering step. - View Dependent Claims (34)
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35. A method for performing a hearing evaluation test over a computer network, comprising the steps of:
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administering a hearing evaluation test to a patient using a computer network, the hearing evaluation test comprising a plurality of hearing assessment signals at selected frequencies and hearing levels;
transmitting commands from a test administration site to a local patient testing site during said administering step;
generating the hearing assessment signals at the local patient site in response to said transmitting step;
interactively relaying information between the patient located at the local site and a clinician located at the test administration site during said administering step so that the clinician can evaluate the patient'"'"'s response to the hearing assessment signals, the test administration site being remote from the local site; and
adjusting the output of a hearing assessment signal during said administering step based on the response of the patient and a command sent from the remote site. - View Dependent Claims (36)
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37. A method for performing a hearing evaluation test over a computer network, comprising the steps of:
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administering a hearing evaluation test to a patient using a computer network, the hearing evaluation test comprising a plurality of hearing assessment signals at selected frequencies and hearing levels, wherein the hearing evaluation test assessment signals are sufficient in number and variation of frequency and sound intensity to allow the clinician to perform a diagnostic hearing evaluation, and wherein the auditory tone presentation of the hearing assessment signals during said administering step meets predetermined test standards;
transmitting commands from a test administration site to a local patient testing site during said administering step;
generating the hearing assessment signals at the local patient site in response to said transmitting step;
interactively relaying information between the patient located at the local site and a clinician located at the test administration site during said administering step so that the clinician can evaluate the patient'"'"'s response to the hearing assessment signals, the test administration site being remote from the local site;
transmitting a command from the test administration site to increase the sound intensity level of at least one of the plurality of hearing assessment signals relayed to the patient at the local site during said administering step; and
transmitting a command from the test administration site to decrease the sound intensity levels of at least one of the plurality of hearing assessment signals during said administering step. - View Dependent Claims (38)
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39. A method for performing a hearing evaluation test over a computer network, comprising the steps of:
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administering a hearing evaluation test to a patient using a computer network, the hearing evaluation test comprising a plurality of hearing assessment signals at selected frequencies and hearing levels;
transmitting commands from a test administration site to a local patient testing site during said administering step;
generating the hearing assessment signals at the local patient site in response to said transmitting step;
interactively relaying information between the patient located at the local site and a clinician located at the test administration site during said administering step so that the clinician can evaluate the patient'"'"'s response to the hearing assessment signals, the test administration site being remote from the local site; and
controlling the sound intensity of the hearing assessment signals delivered to the patient from said test administration site, wherein the clinician adjusts the sound intensity of a selected frequency of the hearing assessment signals which are delivered to the patient responsive to the patient'"'"'s response to a particular hearing assessment signal frequency transmitted thereto. - View Dependent Claims (40)
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41. A method for delivering a diagnostic hearing test over a global computer network from a test administration site to a patient site, comprising the steps of:
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generating, at a patient site, a plurality of hearing assessment signals at frequencies in the range of about 20-20,000 Hz;
transmitting, to the patient, a plurality of hearing assessment signals from said generating step, the plurality of hearing assessment signals being sufficient in number and variation of frequency and sound level intensity to provide enough information to the test administration control site to allow a diagnostic hearing evaluation to be performed by a clinician thereat according to predetermined standards;
controlling the output of the hearing assessment signals which are relayed to the patient during said transmitting step at a local site from a test administration site which is remote from the patient site, wherein said controlling step is carried out such that a clinician at the test administration site determines which hearing assessment signals of said generating step are relayed locally to the patient, accepting patient input indicating when each of the plurality of hearing assessment signals from said transmitting step becomes audible thereto during said transmitting step; and
diagnosing the hearing ability or hearing loss of the patient at the test administration site away from the patient site. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
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48. A method for performing a hearing evaluation test over a computer network, comprising:
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administering a hearing evaluation test to a patient using a computer network, the hearing evaluation test comprising a plurality of hearing assessment signals at selected frequencies and hearing levels;
transmitting commands from a test administration site to a local patient testing site during said administering step;
generating the hearing assessment signals at the local patient site in response to said transmitting step; and
interactively relaying information between the patient located at the local site and a clinician located at the test administration site during said administering step so that the clinician can evaluate the patient'"'"'s response to the hearing assessment signals, the test administration site being remote from the local site, wherein the administering step comprises;
serving web pages from a web server associated with a diagnostic hearing test device at the local patient site to a web client which indicate a status of the diagnostic hearing test;
receiving requests from the web client which provide parameters for performing the diagnostic hearing test during the diagnostic hearing test; and
controlling operation of the diagnostic test device based on the parameters of the received request from the web client so as to provide control of the diagnostic hearing test. - View Dependent Claims (49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55)
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56. A hearing evaluation device for generating hearing assessment signals at a local patient site, comprising:
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a local processor configured to communicate over a computer network;
a tone generator operably associated with the processor, wherein, in operation, said tone generator is configured to generate tones at a plurality of selected frequencies in the frequency range of between about 20-20,000 Hz;
an output device operably associated with the tone generator, wherein, in operation, said output device is adapted to deliver the tones of the hearing assessment signals to a patient undergoing a hearing evaluation; and
an input device operably associated with the processor, said input device configured to indicate a patient'"'"'s response to each of the tones of the hearing assessment signals;
wherein the hearing evaluation device is configured to receive commands from a remote site through said processor over the computer network during the hearing evaluation to allow the remote site to select and/or adjust the tones generated by the tone generator. - View Dependent Claims (57, 58, 59)
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60. A method for performing a hearing evaluation test over a computer network, comprising the steps of:
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obtaining at least one of a tympanometric measurement of middle ear pressure and compliance or the measurement of evoked otoacoustic emissions of a patient using a computer network;
transmitting commands from a remote test administration site to a local patient testing site during at least a portion of said obtaining step;
generating the hearing assessment signals at the local patient site in response to said transmitting step in substantially real-time; and
relaying data between the local site to a clinician located at the test administration site in substantially real-time during at least a portion of said obtaining step so that the clinician can evaluate the patient'"'"'s response to the hearing assessment signals, the test administration site being remote from the local site.
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61. A system configured to perform a hearing evaluation test over a computer network, comprising:
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a portable local communication device comprising an interface having a web server and controller configured to communicate over a computer network with a remote clinician test administration site in substantially real-time during a diagnostic hearing evaluation test; and
a local audiometer in communication with the controller and configured to selectively output a plurality of hearing assessment signals controlled by the remote test site via the web server during the hearing test and receive patient responses thereto. - View Dependent Claims (62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68)
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Specification