acoustic
Meaning of acoustic: Acoustic describes anything related to sound waves or hearing, including diagnostic tests, medical devices, and conditions that affect how sound is perceived.
Definition of acoustic
Acoustic means relating to sound, hearing, or the physical properties of sound waves. In medicine, the word describes tests and devices that use or measure sound, such as acoustic reflex testing, which evaluates a small muscle response in the middle ear to loud sound.
The term also appears in the name acoustic neuroma, a noncancerous growth that develops on the nerve responsible for hearing and balance, where the growth can gradually affect hearing, balance, and nearby facial nerve function as it enlarges.
Acoustic findings are typically assessed alongside a broader hearing and balance evaluation, since symptoms such as hearing loss, ringing in the ears, or dizziness can arise from several different causes along the hearing pathway.
Used in a sentence
An MRI was ordered to evaluate for an acoustic neuroma after the patient reported one-sided hearing loss.
Good to know
Acoustic neuroma is a growth on the nerve involved in hearing and balance rather than a tumor of brain tissue itself, and it is more precisely termed a vestibular schwannoma in many clinical settings.
Word origin
Where “acoustic” comes from
From Greek akoustikos, meaning "pertaining to hearing," from akouein, meaning "to hear."