Spontaneous Acoustic Cochlear Emissions and Sensorineural Tinnitus

Abstract

We have placed a sensitive microphone in the earcanals of 20 normal subjects and 25 patients reporting tinnitus to measure spontaneous acoustic cochlearemissions. In 5 normal subjects and 1 patient we were able to record an emission, typically between 800 and 2000 H z and between 2 and 12 dB SPL In the patient with tinnitus there was no clear relationship between the pitch of the tinnitus (as determined by psychophysical pitch matching) and the spectrum of the emission.