Acoustic and Electrical Stimulation for the Treatment of Tinnitus
Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT03511807. Field values are reproduced from the official study page; the official ClinicalTrials.gov record remains the source of truth for eligibility, enrollment, and contact information.
Data is sourced from official ClinicalTrials.gov public API records. Always review the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for the latest information.
Brief summary
Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.
Tinnitus, or ringing in the ears, affects 10% to 30% of the population. Of those, 20% have tinnitus bothersome enough to seek medical attention. In many people, tinnitus can significantly affect the quality of life. At this point in time, there is no effective treatment or cure available for tinnitus. It has been found that electrical stimulation of the inner ear can reduce and in some cases eliminate tinnitus. The purpose of this research is to investigate both acoustic and electrical stimulation of the inner ear as a possible treatment of tinnitus. In both acoustic and electrical testing conditions, the subjects will be instructed to be familiar with a 0-10 ranking scale of loudness. In acoustic testing, the stimulus will be presented through headphones in a noiseless environment, and the subject will be asked to report on the loudness of the presented sound and the level of the tinnitus at 20-second intervals. If the subject cannot perceive the presence of the tinnitus, a value of zero will be assigned. A typical sound will be presented for 3 to 6 minutes. Loudness will be reported for 1 to 4 minutes after stimulus offset to measure the presence and duration of residual inhibition. Electrical stimulation will be delivered to the inner ear in three ways, 1. using a cochlear implant (implant placed in the inner ear to replace hearing function), 2. Using an electrode placed in the ear canal, and 3. using a small needle inserted through the ear drum. Various electrical signals will be used to evaluate the reduction in the tinnitus perception by the subject. The subjects will rate the loudness of the tinnitus before, during, and after the electrical signal. Surveys will be used to evaluate the tinnitus loudness and the quality of life of the subjects. Hearing tests will be used before and after the procedures. The long term goal of this research is to develop a device to treat tinnitus in people who can hear and to develop programs for cochlear implants that help treat tinnitus in deaf people.
Study identification
- NCT ID
- NCT03511807
- Recruitment status
- Recruiting
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Not applicable
- Enrollment
- 100 participants
Conditions and interventions
Conditions
Eligibility (public fields only)
- Age range
- 18 Years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepts healthy volunteers
This page does not interpret eligibility. Detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official ClinicalTrials.gov record.
Study timeline
- Start date
- Dec 31, 2016
- Primary completion
- Oct 31, 2032
- Completion
- Oct 31, 2032
- Last update posted
- Jun 10, 2026
2017 – 2032
United States locations
- U.S. sites
- 1
- U.S. states
- 1
- U.S. cities
- 1
| Facility | City | State | ZIP | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hamid R. Djalilian | Irvine | California | 92612 | Recruiting |
Site contact phone numbers, emails, and investigator names are intentionally not displayed here. Open the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for site contact information.
Recently updated Tinnitus trials
Other public records listing Tinnitus. Sorted by last update posted; newest first. Not a recommendation.
- NCT07788638: Non-Invasive Neurofeedback Training to Alleviate Tinnitus Distress Recruiting
- NCT07158034: Investigating EEG as a Biomarker for Tinnitus Improvement After Bimodal Stimulation Active, not recruiting
- NCT07622407: Maximizing Quality of Life After Cancer Through Rehabilitation Not yet recruiting
- NCT04172766: Apple Hearing Study Active, not recruiting
- NCT07071480: Noninvasive Therapy for Tinnitus Recruiting
- NCT04192773: An fMRI Investigation of the Effects of IV Lidocaine on Tinnitus Recruiting
About this trial record page
- What this page shows
- Public field values for ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT03511807, including study identification, conditions, interventions, eligibility (age, sex, healthy volunteer), timeline, and U.S. site list.
- What this page does not do
- No medical advice, eligibility judgments, treatment recommendations, study quality scoring, or AI-generated medical summaries. No site contact phone numbers, emails, or investigator names.
- Where the data comes from
- Sourced from the official ClinicalTrials.gov public API. The official record is the source of truth.
- Last refresh
- Last update posted Jun 10, 2026 · Synced Jul 29, 2026
Related: full search, browse by condition, browse by drug or therapy, browse by sponsor, browse by U.S. city.
Open the official record
The complete protocol, eligibility criteria, and contact information for NCT03511807 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.