The 'Rinne's test ( ) is used primarily to evaluate loss of hearing in one ear. It compares perception of sounds transmitted by air conduction to those transmitted by bone conduction through the mastoid. Thus, one can quickly screen for the presence of conductive hearing loss. A Rinne test should always be accompanied by a Weber test to also detect sensorineural hearing loss and thus confirm the nature of hearing loss. The Rinne test was named after German otologist Heinrich Adolf Rinne (1819–1868); the Weber test was named after Ernst Heinrich Weber (1795–1878). Procedure The Rinne test is performed by placing a 512 Hz vibrating tuning fork against the patient's mastoid bone and asking the patient to tell you when the sound is no longer heard. Once the patient signals they can't hear it, the still vibrating tuning fork is then placed 1–2 cm from the auditory canal. The patient is then asked again to indicate when they are no longer able to hear the tuning fork. Results Normal hearing Air conduction should be greater than bone conduction (AC>BC), so the patient should be able to hear the tuning fork next to the pinna (outer ear) after they can no longer hear it when held against the mastoid. This normal result is paradoxically called a positive Rinne test (as a positive medical test usually indicates an abnormality). Abnormal hearing If the patient is not able to hear the tuning fork after it is moved from the mastoid to the pinna, it means that their bone conduction is greater than their air conduction (BC>AC). This indicates there is something inhibiting the passage of sound waves from the ear canal, through the middle ear apparatus and into the cochlea (i.e., there is a conductive hearing loss). In sensorineural hearing loss the ability to sense the tuning fork by both bone and air conduction is equally diminished, implying they will hear the tuning fork by air conduction after they can no longer hear it through bone conduction. This pattern is the same to what is found in people with normal hearing, but patients with sensorineural hearing loss will indicate that the sound has stopped much earlier. This can be revealed by the person administering the test (with normal hearing) placing the fork close to their own ear after the patient indicates that the sound has subsided, noting that the sound from the fork