United States Department of Veterans Affairs
United States Department of Veterans Affairs

National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research

Active Research

Development of an Automated Test to Assess the Presence of Tinnitus


Principal Investigators: James Henry, Ph.D.

Objective: To promote the standardization of reliable procedures to measure parameters of tinnitus in veteran and other populations.
Background: There are no universally accepted standards for the clinical measurement of tinnitus. Tinnitus assessments therefore are not generally performed in a consistent manner among clinicians. This lack of consistency makes it difficult to interpret the results of testing and to compare data across examiners. Instrumentation and procedures have been developed to perform a tinnitus psychoacoustic test battery using computer automation. Automating the procedures can be effective for achieving standardization, and has the added benefit of allowing the clinician to perform other duties while automated testing proceeds.

Findings: This project has been ongoing since 1995 when the original pilot system was developed. Since then the system has undergone numerous upgrades, resulting in a series of studies. The present fourth-generation system performs the entire test battery advocated by the Ciba Foundation and the National Academy of Sciences. The system is currently being evaluated at four VA Audiology Clinics (Portland, OR; Bay Pines, FL; Biloxi, MI; and San Diego, CA).