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• Otolaryngology - ENT
  • Common ENT Terms
  • Ear Related Terms
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  • Sample Reports - Otolaryngology - ENT

• Ear Related Terms

- I -

• Impact Noise

A short burst of sound.



• Imprinting

The process by which young individuals of a species acquire irreversible behavior patterns of that species. With respect to hearing, imprinting involves the ability of the brain to distinguish and process the sounds and rhythms of the first language or languages the young hear.



• Impulsive Noise

The intervals of the sound waves are greater than one second apart and are characterized by a high-amplitude, very short wave.



• Incus

The center bone of the series of three small bones, or ossicles, of the middle ear. Sometimes called the anvil.



• infrasonic

Sounds with frequencies below 20 Hz and, therefore, beyond the range of human hearing.



• Inner Ear

The section of the ear that encompasses the cochlea, hair cells and hearing nerve to the brain, made up of two interconnected parts: the vestibular system, a balance organ and the cochlea, a hearing organ. If a person has a sensorineural hearing loss, the problem occurs in the inner ear.



• Inner Ear

Cochlea, semicircular canals and auditory nerve.



• Intensity

The amplitude of a sound wave. Sound intensity, which is expressed in decibels, is measured in relation to an accepted reference, such as the threshold at which an average person can hear a sound.



• Intraoperative Monitoring

Monitoring of the VIIIth cranial nerve (otherwise known as the vestibular and acoustic nerve) during surgery involving this nerve (e.g., acoustic neuroma/vestibular schwannoma removal, vestibular neurectomy). This testing continuously monitors how the ear is responding to click stimuli during the entire operation.