Method and device for tinnitus therapy

• US 20060167335A1
• Filed: 01/26/2006
• Published: 07/27/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 01/26/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Kim, Kyung-ho, Park, Jeong-je, Kim, Youn-ho, Park, Kun-kook
• Granted Patent: US 8,043,203 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/25
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/128 evaluating tinnitus
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 11/00 Methods or devices for treatment of the ears or hearing sense implantable prostheses that substitute or replace internal ear parts, e.g. ear-drums, A61F2/18; methods or devices to cause a change in the state of auditory consciousness A61M21/00; electrotherapy applying electrical stimulation of the auditory system, or circuits therefor A61N1/36; radiotherapy using optical stimulation of the auditory system A61N5/06; electro-acoustic hearing aids H04R25/00; Non-electric hearing aids; Methods or devices for enabling ear patients to achieve auditory perception through physiological senses other than hearing sense; Protective devices for the ears, carried on the body or in the hand headwear, e.g. caps or helmets, with means for protecting the ears A42B1/0188, A42B3/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2499/11 Transducers incorporated or for use in hand-held devices, e.g. mobile phones, PDA's, camera's
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/00 Deaf-aid sets , i.e. electro-acoustic or electro-mechanical hearing aids; Electric tinnitus maskers providing an auditory perception electrical stimulation of auditory nerves to promote the auditory function A61N1/36038; optical stimulation of auditory nerves to promote the auditory function A61N5/0622
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/75 Electric tinnitus maskers providing an auditory perception

Abstract

A method and device for tinnitus therapy. The method includes generating pure sounds, each having a predetermined frequency, within an audible range, and waiting for a user to press an input button when the user hears the pure sound. Then, the hearing characteristics of the user are interpreted in conjunction with equal loudness contours. From this interpretation, either a tinnitus masking method or a tinnitus retraining therapy are selected according to the hearing characteristics of the user.

Claims

1. A method for treating tinnitus, comprising:

a) generating pure sounds and waiting for a user to press an input button when the user hears the pure sound;

b) interpreting hearing characteristics of the user by comparing the result of pressing the input buttons device with equal loudness contours;

c) selecting either a tinnitus masking method or a tinnitus retraining therapy according to the hearing characteristics of the user; and

d) adjusting and outputting frequency characteristics of a white noise stored in a memory to correspond to the hearing characteristics of the user according to the selected tinnitus therapy.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the operation a) includes:

a1) generating a pure sound of a predetermined frequency within an audible range;

a2) outputting the pure sound to be increasingly louder and detecting the volume of the pure sound heard by the user from the pressing result of the input buttons when the user hears the pure sound or perceives the pure sound that the user is hearing as being suddenly louder;

a3) storing the frequency and volume of the pure sound at the time when the user presses the input button; and

a4) repeating the operations a1) through a3) while increasing the frequency within the audible range.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein in the operation a2), the user presses different input buttons whether the user hears the pure sound or the user perceives the pure sound as being suddenly louder.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying the hearing characteristics of the user together with the equal loudness contours on a graph.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein in the operation c), the user selects either the tinnitus masking method or the tinnitus retraining method.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein in the operation c), the tinnitus masking method is selected when the frequency range where the tinnitus occurs is smaller than a threshold, and the tinnitus retraining method is selected when the frequency range is larger than the threshold.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the pure sounds each have a predetermined frequency within an audible range.

7. A device for treating tinnitus, comprising:

a pure sound generating unit which generates pure sounds;

an input unit for receiving a user'"'"'s input when the user hears the pure sound;

a control unit which interprets the hearing characteristics of the user by comparing the input of the user with equal loudness contours; and

an equalizer which adjusts and outputs the frequency characteristics of a white noise stored in a memory according to the interpreted hearing characteristics of the user.

8. The device of claim 7, wherein the pure sound generating unit includes:

a frequency modulating unit which modulates the frequency of the pure sound; and

a volume control unit which controls volume of the pure sound.

9. The device of claim 7, wherein the input unit includes:

a first input button which receives the input of the user when the user hears the pure sound for the first time; and

a second input button which receives the input of the user when the user perceives the pure sound as being suddenly louder.

10. The device of claim 7, wherein the control unit selects either the tinnitus masking method or the tinnitus retraining method based on the frequency range where the tinnitus occurs based on the interpreted hearing characteristics of the user.

11. The device of claim 7, further comprising:

a timer for performing tinnitus therapy operation for a predetermined period of time.

12. The device of claim 7, further comprising:

a display unit which displays the hearing characteristics of the user together with equal loudness contours on a graph.

13. The device of claim 7, mounted in a portable audio player.

16. The device of claim 7, wherein the pure sounds each have a predetermined frequency within an audible range.

15. A method for treating tinnitus, comprising:

a) generating pure sounds and determining when a user hears the pure sound;

b) interpreting hearing characteristics of the user by comparing the determination with equal loudness contours;

c) selecting either a tinnitus masking method or a tinnitus retraining therapy according to the hearing characteristics of the user; and

d) adjusting and outputting frequency characteristics of a white noise stored in a memory to correspond to the hearing characteristics of the user according to the selected tinnitus therapy.