Otoacoustic emissions in physical and clinical aspect

The paper presents a review of problems related to the otoacoustic emission, in both cognitive and application aspects. The otoacoustic emission is an objective and noninvasive method of examination of the hearing organ, widely used in the clinical practice. It has been applied in hearing screening as well as in diagnostics and treatment of some pathologies of the hearing organs. It is an important fact that measurements of otoacoustic emission can be performed in the group of patients whose examination has been very difficult, that is in neonates and infants, allowing objective diagnosis of their hearing organs. The paper is composed of a few parts. The first is devoted to the spontaneous otoacoustic emission, not evoked by any acoustic signal. The second part provides a discussion of the evoked otoacoustic emission being a response to stimulation by a certain acoustic signal. The third part presents the role of the cochlea in generation of otoacoustic emission and the effect of some external factors on the level of its amplitude and spectral structure.