A tinnitus masking system for use by a person having tinnitus. The system comprises a sound delivery system having left and right ear-level audio delivery devices and is configured to deliver a masking sound to the person via the audio delivery devices such that the masking sound appears to originate from a virtual sound source location that substantially corresponds to the spatial location in 3D auditory space of the source of the tinnitus as perceived by the person. The masking sound being represented by left and right audio signals that are converted to audible sound by the respective audio delivery devices.

A method (of treating a patient who has tinnitus) includes: providing to the patient a sound including at least a first frequency which is at least a half-octave outside a tinnitus frequency of the patient; and applying vagus nerve stimulation electrically to the patient in temporal proximity to the sound thereby reducing symptoms of the patient's tinnitus.

A method is provided which includes receiving first signals indicative of sound in an environment of a recipient. The method further includes receiving second signals indicative of sound perception by the recipient. The method further includes, in response to the first signals and the second signals, determining whether the recipient is experiencing tinnitus. The method further includes, while the recipient is experiencing tinnitus, transmitting stimulation signals to the auditory system of the recipient.

A tinnitus method and device for providing relief to a person suffering from the disturbing effects of tinnitus is described. The method can be implemented entirely in software to spectrally modify an audio signal in accordance with a predetermined masking algorithm which modifies the intensity of the audio signal at selected frequencies. A predetermined masking algorithm is described which provides intermittent masking of the tinnitus wherein, at a comfortable listening level, during peaks of the audio signal the tinnitus is completely obscured, whereas during troughs the perception of the tinnitus occasionally emerges. In practice it has been found that such intermittent masking provides an immediate sense of relief, control and relaxation for the person, while enabling sufficient perception of the tinnitus for habituation and long term treatment to occur. Advantageously the predetermined masking algorithm is specifically tailored to the audiometric configuration of the person. For example, the masking algorithm may be partly tailored to the hearing loss characteristic of the person. A tinnitus rehabilitation device used in conjunction with a personal sound reproducing system is also described.

A system for capturing an individual's hearing characteristics, including loudness tolerance levels at different sound frequencies, as an individualized shaped auditory profile for automatically enhancing audio to complement and address an individual's hearing deficits experienced via a particular signal pathway including the audio device, the sound environment, and the individual's hearing capabilities. The auditory profile is used to produce enhanced sound subsequently transmitted to the individual via the same signal pathway. The enhanced sound may be produced with consideration of both ears' auditory profile shapes together to increase the dynamic range of the enhanced sound. The sound enhancement can be introduced gradually over a sound reproduction session or a period of time of use. Manual gain adjustments applied by multiple users to particular sound enhancement are recorded and used in pattern recognition to allow the system to learn and suggest alternatives to the desired sound enhancement for the auditory profile.

The present invention relates to a sound system suitable for the treatment of tinnitus in a patient having an audio signal generator adapted to generate an audio signal based on a preset profile of a patient's tinnitus. The profile has at least one tinnitus frequency of the tinnitus A first device broadcasts an audio signal to the patient, the audio signal broadcasting device being connected to the audio signal generator. The audio signal has a fundamental frequency between 20 Hz and 300 Hz, preferably between 40 Hz and 160 Hz. At least one harmonic of the fundamental frequency, the harmonic being equal to the at least one tinnitus frequency plus or minus 10%, preferably to the at least one tinnitus frequency plus or minus 6%, and in that the first audio signal broadcasting device is adapted to broadcast the audio signal. The present invention also relates to a method of generating an audio signal on the basis of a tinnitus profile and of broadcasting this audio signal having a fundamental frequency of between 20 Hz and 300 Hz, preferably between 40 Hz and 160 Hz, and at least one harmonic of said fundamental frequency, the harmonic being equal to the at least one tinnitus frequency plus or minus 10%, preferably to the at least one tinnitus frequency plus or minus 6%.

Presented herein are techniques for use of machine learning for treatment of physiological disorders, including for detection of a physiological event and adaption operation of an implantable medical device system to acutely treat the physiological event.

A system and method are provided for capturing hearing characteristics from self-administered hearing tests, including loudness tolerance levels at different sound frequencies, as an individualized shaped auditory profile for automatically enhancing audio to complement and address an individual's hearing deficits experienced via a particular signal pathway including the audio device used to administer the test, the sound environment, and the user's hearing capabilities. The user may self-administer a hearing test on a smartphone or other device. The shaped auditory profile may be used to produce enhanced sound subsequently transmitted to the individual via the same signal pathway. In some aspects, the invention is useful for any individual seeking an enhanced hearing experience, whether having hearing within normal range or hearing that is impaired. Manual gain adjustments applied by a user to the enhanced sound thereby produced may result in changes to a stored shaped auditory profile or the generation of a new profile.

Timed stimulation of both somatosensory system and auditory system is controlled, in such a manner, that an individual's brain activity is altered through spike-timing dependent plasticity, thereby reducing or removing tinnitus.

Timed stimulation of both somatosensory system and auditory system is controlled, in such a manner, that an individual's brain activity is altered through spike-timing dependent plasticity, thereby reducing or removing tinnitus.