# Tinnitus Treatment with Targeted Electric Stimulation

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE · 2020 · $328,313

## Abstract

Principal Investigator/Program Director (Last, first, middle): Zeng, Fan-Gang
Tinnitus is the perception of sound in the absence of external sound. Tinnitus is a significant public
health problem that affects 50 million Americans. Severe tinnitus disrupts daily functions from sleep to
work, often leading to anxiety, depression and lowered quality of life. Despite significant advances in
research and development, presently there is no cure for tinnitus. The present application uses
noninvasive electric stimulation in the ear and minimally-invasive electric stimulation to the round
window or promontory for safe and effective treatment of tinnitus. One innovation is to evaluate
stimulation sites and patterns that evoke auditory sensations while minimizing non-auditory sensations.
Another innovation is to provide two novel tinnitus treatment options, especially for those who still
have significant acoustic hearing and cite tinnitus, and not hearing loss, as the main indication. In the
preliminary study, 10 minutes of round window stimulation completely silenced the tinnitus not only
during stimulation but also for 5 hours after the stimulation in a subject who had suffered from tinnitus
for 15 years. Successful completion of the present work can lead to safe and effective medical devices
for tinnitus treatment.
Project Summary

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9975629
- **Project number:** 5R01DC015587-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Fan-Gang Zeng
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $328,313
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-08-16 → 2022-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9975629

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9975629, Tinnitus Treatment with Targeted Electric Stimulation (5R01DC015587-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9975629. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*