Mobile Apps for Tinnitus Treatment and Functional Hearing Measurement

Due to excessive noise exposure and noise induced trauma, servicemen are often plagued with hearing loss and/or tinnitus. Tinnitus is the most prevalent disability among Veterans, with over 800,000 receiving compensation in 2011. There is no current standard for treatment of tinnitus and the strength of evidence of effectiveness is low in all cases. Access to treatment is limited in rural civilian settings or while deployed in theater. Furthermore, quantitative and objective measures of tinnitus severity and the effects on functional hearing do not exist. In conjunction with the University of Pittsburgh Department of Otolaryngology, Progeny Systems proposes to develop a mobile app to 1) administer an innovative neuromodulation technique for treating tinnitus and 2) to measure functional hearing by use of a gaming scenario that tests the ability to recognize militarily relevant speech (command and warnings) in the presence of noise. This approach will provide a low cost, simple to use, wireless capable solution to both treat tinnitus and to measure the efficacy of any tinnitus or hearing loss treatment. In Phase II we will validate the effectiveness of our solution in clinical patient studies.