Wayne Rudmose and His Audiometry Equipment

Rudmose Associates Audiometers First Introduced in the 1960s

Apr 23, 2009

Harvard-trained physicist Wayne Rudmose was a pioneer in the field of acoustics who developed instruments for measuring sound, including the first automatic audiometer.

A native Texan, Dr. Rudmose received his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1946 after obtaining his undergraduate degrees from the University of Texas and taking a break to serve in World War II. He became a professor of Physics at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and continued his research.

Rudmose Associates Develops Automated Stimulus Intensity Apparatus

While at SMU, Dr. Rudmose formed Rudmose Associates to produce and market his original designs. He introduced the first variable pulse depth audiometer, which added automated features to the manual units of the day. It was called the RA-101, and it allowed the subject to search for his own hearing threshold while the operator maintained complete control over the settings and frequency of trials. This instrument had earphones called Otocups which were individually compensated at each frequency. Several more versions of this testing device followed, including those for two-subject and four-subject group testing.

The Rudmose Model ARJ Recording Audiometers

The Rudmose Associates ARJ series was a commercially available apparatus, mostly used by groups such as schools. It was the next generation of audiometer technology and had automated intensity, frequency and data recording functions. A punchcard was placed in the unit and the subject was instructed to press a button on a hand switch to indicate whether a tone was audible.

This equipment was first tested at the 1955 Wisconsin State Fair, in specially constructed booths. By the late 1960s employee-controlled self-recording audiometers determined the hearing level by tracing lines on a rectangular card proportional to the employee’s hearing thresholds. The audiometers could be grouped together for concurrent testing of multiple employees or other subjects.

Tracor, Inc. Acquires Rudmose Associates in 1963

When his company was acquired by Tracor, Inc. in 1963, Dr. Rudmose left S.M.U. and moved his family from Dallas to Austin, Texas. He continued with his inventions and developed other diagnostic instrumentation, including a device to detect hearing irregularities in newborns. He remained interested in acoustics and audiometrics for the rest of his life although he retired from Tracor in 1980 at the age of sixty-five.

Wayne Rudmose Also Designed Sound Systems

Dr. Rudmose was a tireless researcher who made significant contributions to his field by designing machines to test the hearing of newborns, children and adults. He also designed sound systems for many private and public buildings. Some of them are Love Field Airport in Dallas, the Coliseum at Southern Methodist University, and an airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He was the author of numerous academic papers and was active in the Acoustical Society of America. He died in 2006 in Austin, Texas.

The copyright of the article Wayne Rudmose and His Audiometry Equipment in Collectibles is owned by Marie Brannon. Permission to republish Wayne Rudmose and His Audiometry Equipment in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.