A new dedicated audiology pod which will enable the accurate assessment of children’s hearing is set to be unveiled in Bury St Edmunds this week.

The sound-proofed pod, which will be located at the Child Development Centre on Hospital Road, has been specially designed so children aged six months to 18 years can be properly assessed  in an environment which is free from noise and other distractions that could affect test results.

The pod will have two rooms, including an observation room where parents can observe the test being carried out without causing distraction during the test.

Mandy Sullivan, Suffolk Community Healthcare’s paediatric audiology scientist said: “This new pod will greatly improve paediatric audiology services in West Suffolk. Previously, testing has been interrupted by environmental noise. This state-of-the-art pod will help provide an accurate assessment of a child’s hearing.

“We expect to test the hearing of around 1650 children in the next year.”

A similar audiology pod is currently under construction and will be operational in East Suffolk from April 2012 and is expected to assess around 3000 children in the first year.