# Wireless earbuds for low-cost hearing screening

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2212.05435 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.05435/

## Key facts

- Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 11 Dec 2022.

## Built on by (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [OmniBuds: A Sensory Earable Platform for Advanced Bio-Sensing and On-Device Machine Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.04775/) (2024)
- [Fine-grained Soundscape Control for Augmented Hearing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.00395/) (2026)
- [EarLog: Opportunistic Ear Physiology Sensing toward Personalized Hearing Risk Awareness](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.12501/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

We present the first wireless earbud hardware that can perform hearing screening by detecting otoacoustic emissions. The conventional wisdom has been that detecting otoacoustic emissions, which are the faint sounds generated by the cochlea, requires sensitive and expensive acoustic hardware. Thus, medical devices for hearing screening cost thousands of dollars and are inaccessible in low and middle income countries. We show that by designing wireless earbuds using low-cost acoustic hardware and combining them with wireless sensing algorithms, we can reliably identify otoacoustic emissions and perform hearing screening. Our algorithms combine frequency modulated chirps with wideband pulses emitted from a low-cost speaker to reliably separate otoacoustic emissions from in-ear reflections and echoes. We conducted a clinical study with 50 ears across two healthcare sites. Our study shows that the low-cost earbuds detect hearing loss with 100% sensitivity and 89.7% specificity, which is comparable to the performance of a 8000 medical device. By developing low-cost and open-source wearable technology, our work may help address global health inequities in hearing screening by democratizing these medical devices.