'How to control tinnitus' happens to be discovered during research on motion sickness reduction devices
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Tinnitus, which is jarring when it isn't actually making a sound, can interfere with people's concentration and calm mood while relaxing. Researchers say they may have accidentally discovered an easy way to treat such tinnitus while researching devices that reduce motion sickness.
(PDF) We'may' have discovered a potential remedy for tinnitus -by accident
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335159616_We_%27may%27_have_discovered_a_potential_remedy_for_tinnitus_-by_accident
Spencer Salter , a researcher at Coventry University , was researching devices to reduce motion sickness in self-driving cars. The reason why I feel uncomfortable when I am in a car is that there is a discrepancy between the visual information while looking at a stationary object at hand and the sensory information that actually moves the body and stimulates the semicircular canals of the inner ear. He pointed out. For this reason, when you have motion sickness, you can see the scenery and the horizon in front of you and predict how you will actually move after that, and the symptoms will be alleviated.
On the other hand, when developing self-driving cars, the tendency to 'make a seat facing the rear window on the opposite side of the direction of travel' is becoming more common. Especially in self-driving vans where a large number of people ride, it seems that back-facing seats are easy to make, but in past research , Salter proved that people sitting in back-facing seats are prone to motion sickness. increase.
That's why Salter and colleagues are working on reducing people's motion sickness using head-mounted devices. In fact, 'a device that is worn on the head to give vibration and reduce motion sickness' is being developed by companies, and it seems that it is a research that attracts attention from military personnel because it does not require the use of drugs. is.
'OtoTech' that reduces motion sickness and VR sickness by 'vibration' without using medicine attracts attention even at the military level --GIGAZINE
The head-mounted motion sickness reduction device developed by Salter et al. Works on the inner ear by vibrating lightly just behind the ear. Experiments in the lab confirmed that this device reduced motion sickness, so the research team asked 24 very prone to motion sickness participants to wear the device and put it on a minivan to run around the city. The we.
There are four levels of vibration intensity in the device, and it was level 3 vibration that was shown to be 'most effective in reducing motion sickness' in laboratory research. For this reason, half of the participants were set to level 1 vibration and the remaining participants were set to level 3 vibration, and the participants were seated in seats facing the opposite direction of the minivan. During the 15-minute test, participants were instructed to play puzzles while sitting in their seats, recreating a state of being prone to motion sickness.
As a result of the experiment, the participants who were given the level 1 vibration got motion sickness 6 minutes from the start, but the participants who were given the level 3 vibration took 12 minutes to get motion sickness. Participants who received Level 3 vibrations also reported that they were able to recover from motion sickness on straight roads. The results of this study were not published at the time of writing, but are expected to be published in scientific journals in the future, Salter said.
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And Salter happened to discover that 'a vibrating head-mounted device had the effect of suppressing tinnitus in participants suffering from tinnitus.' It seems that tinnitus is often caused by abnormalities in the inner ear, and it is not uncommon for people who are also prone to motion sickness due to the inner ear to suffer from tinnitus. In fact, some of the 24 participants were suffering from tinnitus.
When a female participant suffering from tinnitus was fitted with a head-mounted device and given level 3 vibration, she reported that her tinnitus had improved. After many years of seeing doctors and specialists, women's tinnitus did not improve, but somehow devices to reduce motion sickness have dramatically improved tinnitus. is.
After seeing this case, Salter began offering devices to people suffering from tinnitus. All people wearing the device have reported improvements in tinnitus, and some are reluctant to take the device home and return it, Salter said. The device is easy to put on and doesn't make a loud noise, so people forget that they're wearing it in a minute or two. In fact, when experimenting with the effect of reducing motion sickness, some participants did not notice that they continued to wear the device even after the experiment was over.
This discovery is a complete coincidence, and at the time of writing, there is only empirical evidence of Mr. Salter. Perhaps the vibrations of the device acting on the inner ear reduce tinnitus, but Salter said that people who specialize in hearing and tinnitus need to continue experimenting.
by Simon James
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