Desenvolvimento de um sistema de apoio a pacientes com zumbido

Abstract

Introduction: Tinnitus is a very disturbing symptom, which reveals itself as a sensation of “hearing a sound internally”. There are several theories that try to justify its appearance, although not always in agreement. There are studies that relate the appearance of tinnitus with hearing loss, noise exposure, stress and emotional disturbance, but more treatment strategies for this specific population will still be needed. Objectives: When evaluating patients with tinnitus, it is noticed that the biggest complaints are related to the silence of the night, which, consequently, disturbs the circadian cycle. In order to overcome this problem, a device was built into a pillow, which can be used during sleep. The pillow works as a therapeutic form, more specifically as a sound generator. Materials and Methods: An electronic device was developed that allows the reproduction of various soundtracks, and later inserted into a pillow. In addition, some materials were tested to fill its interior, and of all those that were most effective were the sponge and the cherry seeds. The studies were aimed at evaluating the best solution in acoustic terms, in the propagation of the sound wave in the environment, but also the best solution in terms of greater comfort for the patient. Results: Results were obtained regarding the propagation of the sound wave when testing a pillow with the sponge and with the cherry seeds. The best results are related to the pillow with the cherry seeds, presenting an intensity attenuation of 24.1 dB relative to the reference sound, while an attenuation of 8.8 dB relative to the sound inside the sponge pillow was obtained. Conclusion: The pillow created is an easy-to-use, ecological device that can be applied to all patients with complaints of nocturnal tinnitus.