With visual reinforcement audiometry (VRA), the behavioral procedure becomes more gamelike. By using visual reinforcers, you engage the infant or child patient to take part in the hearing test. This gives you more time to establish their hearing levels. VRA is also a valuable tool when testing difficult-to-test children.
VRA201 is a manually-controlled VRA tool and is a supplement to audiometers and traditional behavioral audiometry. VRA201 is a valuable accessory for your audiometry setup and will make hearing testing more fun for your pediatric patients.
Hearing testing made rewarding. You perform the hearing test in a free-field setup or with headphones. VRA201 provides the visual reward, and you present the sound with the audiometer. If the infant or child produces a correct response, you push the response switch. This illuminates an animated toy located behind tinted Plexiglas. This rewards the child for hearing the sound stimulus and for taking part in the test.
VRA Screen is a digital VRA device. As with VRA201, you present the sound with the audiometer. But instead of animating a toy, you present the visual reward via 1-3 screens, depending on your setup.
What do you get?
VRA Screen consists of a dedicated PC for VRA, default playlists, a mouse, and a USB stick with the VRA Playlist Creator software. Once you have arranged for 1-3 screens in your free field setup, you are ready to go.
Visual rewards
You can choose between the following rewards:
The clinician is in charge
With a simple mouse click, you can instantly switch the visual reward on and off. In a multi-screen setup, you can also quickly switch screens with left-right mouse clicks.
An interactive experience
The default VRA playlist includes animal animations with sound. This adds another dimension to the setup, as the reinforcement contains both movement and sound, which can be more interactive and interesting for the patient.
Playlist Creator
You are not limited to the default playlist, far from it. In the VRA Playlist Creator software, you can create your own playlists. This means that you can tailor the visual rewards to the specific patient. Let’s say you know a patient coming in tomorrow has a thing for cars, then what better way to keep their attention than by showing them images or videos with cars?
Amanda Goodhew, BSc (Hons) MSc Audiology. International Clinical Trainer at the Interacoustics Academy, former Senior Pediatric Audiologist at NHS, UK.
“What I love most about VRA Screen is how fast and responsive it is. There is no delay to either the onset or offset of the visual reward, which is so vital for keeping the child conditioned and motivated. Combined with the ability to create your own playlists and add your own still or moving images, this places the clinician in total control of what can be fast-paced and high-pressure testing conditions”
