It was a problem that confounded paediatricians for decades: How could you test a baby’s hearing? Newborns, of course, can’t tell you if they can hear the snap of a doctor’s fingers. Fortunately, doctors eventually figured out a way to detect deafness in babies.

But another problem then arose. If a baby’s hearing was seriously impaired and needed a hearing aid or cochlear implant, how did you test if the technology actually worked?

It has taken until now to learn the answer. Australian Hearing and the HEARing CRC have developed a world-first device that detects sound registering in an infant’s brain.

Minister for Human Services Tanya Plibersek said the device – called “HEARLab™” which has been developed over the past 11 years at a cost of $2.2 million – measured changes in brainwave patterns through electrodes placed on a baby’s head.

“One of the major barriers to identifying the best interventions for hearing impaired babies is that they are too young to report verbally if their hearing aids or implants are working,” said Ms Plibersek.

Go here for the full story or watch the Channel 7 News story below.