Otoacoustic Emissions: Principles, Procedures, and Protocols

Almost ten years had passed since the Handbook of Otoacoustic Emissions was published. A second edition of the other book on otoacoustic emissions appeared a few years earlier. Research on OAEs was ongoing, with thousands of new articles now in the peer-reviewed literature. It was time for a new practically oriented book on the topic, with an update-to-date explanation of the generators of OAEs, evidence-based techniques for recording and analysis, and a concise summary of clinical applications. An OAE book was on the list of titles in the Core Clinical Concept series (see background on Objective Measures of Hearing. Although I initially was thinking of a single author book, there were plenty of researchers who knew much more about the basic science of OAEs. And I remained committed to the plan for encouraging emerging audiology scholars and leaders to become involved in publishing the next generation of textbooks.

One day while waiting for others to join a pre-planned conference call about a multi-site research project, I was talking with my good friend and colleague Roger Ruth about an OAE task force we served on. I was the chair of the American Academy of Audiology (AAA) task force to develop clinical OAE guidelines. Roger suggested that I invite Sumitrajit Dhar, a faculty member at Northwestern University, to join the task force. I was familiar with a few of Sumit's OAE papers. Roger gave a glowing review of an OAE update presentation Sumit had given at a recent meeting of the American Auditory Society (that Roger chaired). I got to thinking that Sumit would be a perfect co-author of new OAE book, so via email I asked if he would be willing to do so. Sumit agreed. Soon after, we put together a table of contents and signed an agreement with the publisher.

Later that year (September), I was scheduled to give workshop on basic audiology at the beginning of the American Academy of Otolaryngology Convention in Chicago. I made arrangements for Sumit and me to meet at Northwestern University to work on the book. Sumit bought a few tickets for a Chicago Cubs game which we attended on a brisk sunny fall day. The Cubs roared back from a 9-4 deficit in the 9th inning to beat the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers happy fans who we saw on the train from Skokie to Wrigley Field were a little more drunk, and a lot less happy, on the return trip after the game.

Otoacoustic Emissions: Principles, Procedures, and Protocols is scheduled to appear in the spring of 2011. The book is the most current and comprehensive source of information on every aspect of OAEs. If you're reading this in summer or 2011, or later, go directly to the Plural Publishing web site and purchase a copy.