Instrumentation in Audiology

Students are expected to have a basic understanding of acoustics and signal processing, particularly regarding signals, spectral analysis, and sound waves propagation.

This course includes 3h of weekly in-person instruction, corresponding to a 2h theoretical-practical class and a 1h practical class.
The theoretical-practical classes will include the exposition of the concepts, encouraging, whenever possible, active student participation through both collaborative activities and questions. The program contents will be followed by step-by-step problem-solving demonstrations and illustrated with practical examples and real-time software simulations whenever possible.
The practical classes will mostly correspond to group-based autonomous work, supervised by the professor as needed. These are divided into four practical assignments where a set of electrical circuits will be studied, using a simulation software and experimental measurements with physical setups.

Upon the successful completion of the Instrumentation in Audiology course unit, the students should be able to:

– Understand the fundamental concepts of electronics and electroacoustics relevant to the audiology field;

– Analyse the operation of simple electrical circuits;

– Analyse and interpret filtering circuits;

– Distinguish and characterize basic amplification circuits;

– Identify, classify and describe the main types of transducers;

– Recognize and describe the key components of devices used in the audiology field;

– Identify equipment used in the calibration of audiometric devices;

– Distinguish procedures for the maintenance and calibration of audiometric equipment and corresponding technical standards.

Mathematics:
– Complex numbers: addition, multiplication, division, and exponentiation;
– Representation in algebraic, trigonometric, and graphical forms;
– Complex conjugate;
– Geometric transformations.

Fundamentals of electricity and electronics:
– Electric current;
– Electrical resistance and Ohm’s Law;
– DC circuits: voltage and current sources, association of passive components, and Kirchhoff’s laws.

AC circuits:
– Phasor representation of sinusoidal voltage and current;
– RC, RL, and RLC circuits;
– Resonance in series and parallel RLC circuits;
– Concepts of electrical impedance and admittance;
– Generalized impedance/admittance: parallels between acoustic, mechanical, and electrical systems;
– Passive filtering circuits;
– Operational amplifiers and amplification circuits.

Electroacoustic instrumentation:
– Transducers: general description, classification, electromechanical principles, dynamic characteristics, and performance metrics;
– Main components of audiological equipment;
– Calibration procedures, maintenance, and technical standards.

NAO