A test that assesses for conductive hearing loss. A vibrating tuning fork is placed on the mastoid process. When the patient no longer hears the tone, the fork is immediately placed over the outer ipsilateral ear. A patient with normal conductive hearing will hear the tuning fork again once it is held over the ear because air conduction is greater than bone conduction (positive Rinne test). This finding also occurs in sensorineural hearing loss, in which bone and air conduction are equally diminished. If the patient does not hear a sound again, the test is negative, which indicates that the patient has conductive hearing loss.