Tinnitus affects about one third of the U.S. population, with severe and disabling symptoms in about 10 % of the population. The causes and pathophysiology of tinnitus are mostly unknown, which makes developing treatments and preventative measures difficult at best. This new device uses physiologic responses to first measure the auditory startle reflex in response to an intense acoustic stimulus. GAP and PPI (pre-pulse inhibition) methods are then used to test for tinnitus and hearing loss. In PPI testing, a weak prepulse is administered before the stimulus. The prepulse usually weakens the startle reflex, but not if the prepulse matches a subject’s tinnitus/hearing loss. In GAP testing, a silent gap in background noise precedes the stimulus. The gap usually weakens the startle reflex, but not if the background noise matches a subject’s tinnitus/hearing loss. The result is the objective measurement of tinnitus/hearing loss, something which no other device currently on the market can deliver.

File Number: 2.190.103; 2.190.141 

Web site: http://www.siumed.edu/adrfa/techavailable.html

Other Information: Current work is focused on building a compact prototype, which will then be used to generate initial human data.