Objective Diagnostic Tool for Tinnitus in Military Populations

Tinnitus, along with hearing loss, are the two top service-related disabilities for veterans. It has been estimated that together the cost to the Veterans Administration is $1.5B annually. While hearing loss can readily be quantified, measures of tinnitus have remained highly subjective making quantitive assessments of occurrence and severity difficult. This project seeks to develop a quantitative measure of tinnitus based on the Tracking Task Procedure (TTP) based on the well-recognized observation that individuals with tinnitus have difficulty identifying a continuous tone presented in the frequency regime of their tinnitus. Protocols and methods will be developed, coded in software and incorporated in a prototype device that will be ready for clinical trials in Phase II. The ultimate goal is the development of an easy to use, inexpensive system to provide military clinicians the quantitative information they need to care for and rehabilitate tinnitus patients.