The Bionics Institute Claim They Have Found a Way of Objectively Measuring Tinnitus

[Nick47]

I wonder if this opens up further avenues to measure "reactive tinnitus"?

@UKBloke, I've considered this many times. If a patient brought in an instrument, like a fan or kettle, that exacerbates their tinnitus, we could record their baseline and aggravated states. Similar to a cochlear implant, the patient would serve as their own control.

However, then I wondered—how can we be sure that changes in brain responses aren't just due to sound processing, rather than truly representing tinnitus activity?

 

[Joeseph Stope]

Here is a simplified write up of the findings.

→ New publication shows Bionics Institute researchers can objectively measure tinnitus changes in individuals

This is what @DebInAustralia alluded to in January of this year.

Thank you, @Nick47, for the optimistic note today. As I've mentioned in earlier posts, this could be the major contribution—our generation's big step forward, or rather, our era's step forward—in cracking the mystery and, hopefully, eventually delivering a cure for tinnitus, hyperacusis, and maybe even deafness.

Getting a bit philosophical here: I noticed back in university that when you can't solve an intractable problem, you tend to change the question a bit. In this case, while we can't stop the ringing, how can we measure it? How can we prove or detect that it's there… subjectively? Or should I say objectively?

Before the Bionics Institute got started, "subjectively" might have been the only way to describe it. But now, with their success, it's becoming more objective.

Ah, my ongoing struggles with the English language!

 

[UKBloke]

However, then I wondered—how can we be sure that changes in brain responses aren't just due to sound processing, rather than truly representing tinnitus activity?

It might depend on how they/we define sound processing. I mean, hearing with or without tinnitus is all sound processing to a degree, just "normal" or "abnormal" processing.

If they're measuring tinnitus "severity," then going off what I personally experience with reactivity, I'd expect to see a spike in the severity metric after exposure to problematic sounds/frequencies. I think, for now at least, I could overlook the "processing" question.

In the longer term, perhaps the answer lies in a longitudinal study, although that would be pretty crap for the patient as the expectation would be for their condition to worsen in order for us to retrieve the data we want. Maybe an independent control subject without tinnitus could be useful?

 

[Joeseph Stope]

It might depend on how they/we define sound processing. I mean, hearing with or without tinnitus is all sound processing to a degree, just "normal" or "abnormal" processing.

If they're measuring tinnitus "severity," then going off what I personally experience with reactivity, I'd expect to see a spike in the severity metric after exposure to problematic sounds/frequencies. I think, for now at least, I could overlook the "processing" question.

In the longer term, perhaps the answer lies in a longitudinal study, although that would be pretty crap for the patient as the expectation would be for their condition to worsen in order for us to retrieve the data we want. Maybe an independent control subject without tinnitus could be useful?

I must confess that I don't see the difficulty here. I see that you (Tinnitus Onset 1991) are one "year" older than me.

The folks in white coats would simply measure the initial tinnitus loudness at onset, and then, as the years go by, take new readings to track its progress.

No need to worry! If the tinnitus is chronic, it won't go away.

 

[UKBloke]

I see that you (Tinnitus Onset 1991) are one "year" older than me.

Yeah, it's been a long haul!

 

[DebInAustralia]

Update from Bionics:

 

[Nick47]

Good work, @DebInAustralia.

Get the questions in then...

 

[@dam]

@UKBloke, I've considered this many times. If a patient brought in an instrument, like a fan or kettle, that exacerbates their tinnitus, we could record their baseline and aggravated states. Similar to a cochlear implant, the patient would serve as their own control.

However, then I wondered—how can we be sure that changes in brain responses aren't just due to sound processing, rather than truly representing tinnitus activity?

That's what happened when I got tested there. You wear earphones, and they play a sound like the ocean, which then goes silent. I was amazed at how much louder my tinnitus was right after the sound stopped. Then, it gradually died down until the next sound played.