Patent ID: 7210353

Claim:
A multimedia audiometer comprising: audio circuitry capable of generating audible test tones for delivery to earphones worn by a test subject; a computer selectively operable to produce instructions represented by sound waves for delivery to the earphones, the computer being operatively coupled to the audio circuitry; microprocessor circuitry operatively coupled to the computer, the microprocessor circuitry including a central processing unit (CPU) and a memory; an interface operatively coupled to the computer and the microprocessor circuitry for signaling whether the test subject perceives the audible test tones generated by the audio circuitry; a switch having a first state in which audible test tones generated by the audio circuitry are provided to the earphones, and a second state in which the instructions represented by sound waves produced by the computer are provided to the earphones; and software stored in at least one of the computer and the memory of the microprocessor circuitry, the software operating the computer, the microprocessor circuitry, the audio circuitry and the interface to generate the audible test tones for delivery to the earphones, monitor responses by the test subject, detect errors in the test subject's responses, selectively produce the instructions for delivery to the earphones in response to the detected errors, and to control the switch to switch to the second state when errors are detected in the test subject's responses and to automatically switch back to the first state following delivery of the instructions to the earphones so that testing is resumed without human intervention.