Vibrotactile suppression of tinnitus

Abstract

At the Society’s 142nd meeting, the efficacy of high frequency bone conducted stimulation in suppressing tinnitus was presented. The hypothesized mechanism was the reprogramming of frequency tuning of auditory neurons in the central nervous system, secondarily to peripheral hearing loss. This mechanism is unlikely in cases of tinnitus in the presence of normal audiometric sensitivity. There is the possibility that hearing loss above 10 kHz can play a role in tinnitus, an association not thoroughly explored. Somatomotor stimulation influencing the quality of tinnitus has been reported, as have interconnections of the auditory and somatosensory systems. There would appear to be an evolutionary advantage of linking the sensorimotor organization of the external ear and the auditory function of the brainstem in sound localization. Thus, stimulation of the pinna and post auricular area may be a means of suppressing tinnitus. To that end a thin aluminum ceramic bimorph was constructed to fit on the inner surface of the pinna. When driven by low (<100 Hz) and high (>10 kHz) frequencies multiplied by MHz carriers, demodulation in the skin resulted in vibrotactile stimulation. Tactile stimulation was an adjunct to the high frequencies resulting in a multimodal suppressive effect in a small pilot study.