A device will allow tinnitus patients to control their evolution from home. The project arose from a collaboration with the University of L’Aquila, in Italy, has come forward thanks to the call Proof of Concept of the General Foundation of the University of Salamanca, within the TCUE program of the Junta de Castilla y León, co-financed with FEDER funds. In the next phases, the health center of La Alamedilla in the capital of Salamanca will join the investigation, since the objective is to carry out real tests with patients, both Spanish and Italian.
Tinnitus or tinnitus is a phenomenon that is characterized because the patient perceives a sound, usually in the form of a beep, without coming from outside, since it is generated in the ear itself or in the auditory nerve. Although there is no cure, it can be controlled to lead a relatively normal life, but the diagnostic tests and follow-up in consultation are complex and performed by an otolaryngologist. This system can make a great contribution to healthcare, because it is much cheaper than the tests carried out in the specialist’s office and because it facilitates the monitoring of patients who, along with this problem, often suffer from anxiety, stress and depression. to not be able to enjoy a normal life in their day to day.
In essence, it consists of a mobile application that includes different tests to measure tinnitus and that connects with a device developed by the researchers themselves. Several types of beeps are generated, with different frequencies and volumes, which go to two headphones. One of them is normal, just like hearing aids to listen to music. Another goes directly to the bone, is a bone transducer that allows detecting if the problem comes from the external ear or the auditory nerve, according to the researchers’ explanation.
The patient manipulates the device and can perform an audiometry to evaluate the functioning of the auditory system or an acufenometry, to estimate the importance of the tinnitus that he suffers.
These and other innovations are now possible in Pharmamedic.
