A centennial tribute to the Politzer Acoumeter

Abstract

Objective

This year (2020) is the centenary of the death of the great otologist, Adam Politzer (1835–1920), the Founding Father of Otology. As a centennial tribute to him, the origin and development of his acoumeter is presented.

Method

historical study based exclusively on primary sources.

Results

Invented by Politzer in 1877, this small portable device to test auditory acuity was quickly accepted by colleagues and remained in popular use for more than 50 years. A detailed account of the Politzer Acoumeter is given together with a comparison with similar contemporary devices, which were also commercially available for clinical hearing testing.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that the Politzer Acoumeter had given the electrical audiometer a good run. For more than half a century, it had been widely used and had proved to be a very useful test of hearing.

Keywords:

• Otology
• history
• Politzer
• Acoumeter
• audiometer

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).