Domestic Researchers Prove Treatment of 'Chronic Tinnitus' Through Virtual Reality

Research by Professor Choi Jun's Team at Korea University Ansan Hospital

Professor Choi Jun, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Korea University Ansan Hospital, and resident Park Dong-hyun.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] Domestic researchers have demonstrated that tinnitus symptoms can be alleviated through treatment using virtual reality (VR).

Korea University Ansan Hospital announced on the 28th the results of a study conducted by Professor Choi Jun's otolaryngology team in the paper titled "A clinical trial of a patient-customized virtual reality intervention for tinnitus."

Tinnitus is the subjective perception of noise in the ear without external auditory stimuli and is known to affect 10% of the global population. Severe tinnitus can lead to decreased concentration and mood disorders, negatively impacting patients' quality of life and potentially resulting in social and economic losses.

To evaluate the potential of VR-based tinnitus treatment, Professor Choi's research team enrolled 19 patients aged 33 to 64 who had experienced chronic subjective tinnitus symptoms for more than three months in a virtual reality therapy program. The patients repeatedly caught avatars producing tinnitus sounds in VR environments consisting of four different settings?bedroom, living room, dining room, and others?and moved them to designated locations for removal at intervals of 1 to 2 weeks.

As a result, 12 out of the 19 patients showed improvement in the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI), and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), which measures sleep quality, also decreased after participation in the program, indicating that VR-based tinnitus treatment is effective in alleviating symptoms. Additionally, EEG (electroencephalogram) tests conducted on participants detected increased activity in specific brain regions compared to before the program. Considering recent research suggesting that the causes of tinnitus may be related to the brain as well as the ear, this points to the potential for follow-up studies on chronic tinnitus treatment.

Professor Choi stated, "VR is increasingly used in various clinical settings because it can efficiently simulate situations that are difficult to set up in real environments," adding, "We hope this study will serve as a stepping stone toward developing diverse treatment methods, including virtual reality, for patients suffering from chronic tinnitus."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.