| A | B |
|---|
| Bone Conduction | Conduction of sound by which sound vibrates through the cranial bones to the inner ear |
| Air Conduction | Conduction of sound by which sound is transmitted through the ear canal and middle ear. (Normally this is the most sensitive route.) |
| Weber Test | Measures bone conduction by placing tuning fork at top of head midline to see if sound is heard equally in both ears. |
| Rinne Test | Compares air conduction and bone conduction - place tuning fork on mastoid and then at entrance to ear canal. |
| Normal Rinne Test | AC > BC (a normal finding) Also known as a Positive Rinne Test |
| Abnormal Rinne Test | BC > AC or BC = AC (indicates that the sound is not heard longer by air conduction than by bone conduction) |
| Normal Weber Test | Sound is equally loud in both ears. |
| Abnormal Weber Test Indicating Conductive Loss | Sound is heard best (lateralizes) in ear that has the poorest air conduction. |
| Abnormal Weber Test Indicting Sensorineural Loss | Sound is heard best in the ear that is unaffected (i.e. sound lateralizes to the ear that does not have nerve loss.) |
