#PHYSICS BEHIND TUNING FORK TEST HOW TO#
#PHYSICS BEHIND TUNING FORK TEST FULL#

Begin by striking the tuning fork against your knee or elbow.

I want you to tell me which position you hear the tuning fork loudest in”

“I’m going to put this vibrating tuning fork in two positions, one touching the bone near you ear, one a short distance from the ear.

Rinne’s test can only detect a conductive hearing loss of at least 30dB.

Rinne’s test has a high sensitivity (0.84) though this varies with the skill of the examiner.

This test aims compare air conduction with bone conduction.

Interpretation of Rinne’s and Weber’s tests Test

The various outcomes of Rinne and Weber tests are shown below.

In bilateral and symmetrical hearing loss of either type Weber’s test will be normal.

If a patient has a unilateral sensorineural hearing loss, the tuning fork sound will be heard louder in the normal ear.

If a patient has a unilateral conductive hearing loss, the tuning fork sound will be heard louder in the deaf ear.

move to one side, with a relatively small amount of hearing loss (5dB)

If the patient is unclear, you may ask if they hear it “everywhere.” Be careful not to ask the question in a leading manner.

Then ask the patient: “Do you hear the sound louder in one ear than the other?”.

It is important to steady the patient’s head with your other hand so that reasonably firm pressure can be applied.

To perform Weber’s test strike the fork against your knee or elbow, then place the base of the fork in the midline, high on the patient’s forehead.

Note you should ideally be in a completely silent room for Rinne and Weber tests.

Permission (consent and explain examination: “I’m going to examine your hearing using this tuning fork now, is that OK?”).

Identity of patient (confirm name and date of birth).

Video on Rinne and Weber tests by Oxford Medical Education

Other tuning fork tests include the Schwabach and Bing tests, though these are not used in routine practice.

The Rinne and Weber tests help distinguish between a conductive hearing loss (CHL) and sensorineural Hearing Loss (SHL).

#PHYSICS BEHIND TUNING FORK TEST FULL#

These tests should be carried out with a full examination of the cranial nerves or the ear.

Patients with bilateral loss or mixed losses are better assessed with formal pure tone audiometry.

They are most useful in patients with unilateral hearing loss which is purely conductive or purely sensorineural.

The tuning fork tests provide a reliable clinical method for assessing hearing loss.

#PHYSICS BEHIND TUNING FORK TEST HOW TO#

How to do Rinne and Weber tuning fork tests for doctors, medical student finals, OSCEs and MRCP PACES In order to comprehend the nature of this oscillation, study the oscillation of a pen-equipped tuning fork in this experiment.Tuning Fork Tests (Rinne’s and Weber’s tests) This can be used, for example, for tuning an instrument. If a tuning fork is struck, its oscillation produces a sound of a certain pitch. Particularly appropriate as an experiment for first contact with physics in general.

Experiment is part of an experiment set with a total of 22 experiments about generation, propagation and perception of sound, oscillations and waves.They see that the sine curve is the course of an oscillation over time, and they compare the frequencies and amplitudes of normal tuning forks and of the pen-equipped tuning fork. In this experiment, the students visualise the oscillations of tuning forks by plotting the oscillations of a pen-equipped tuning fork on a sheet of paper.

Physics behind tuning fork test