The Tinnitus Control Center welcomes inquiries from members of the general, scientific and medical media. We will be happy to provide complete information about our procedure as well as information about tinnitus in general.

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The following article appeared in an advertorial in The New York Times on Sunday, October 21, 2007 and was written by Sharon Johnson.

New Treatment for Tinnitus
Brings Relief of Symptoms

Ringing, buzzing, roaring, chirping and humming. These sound can be extremely irritating when they come from inside your head.

The condition is common. The Academy of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery estimates that nearly 36 million Americans battle tinnitus, the perception of sound when no external source is present.

The noise may vary in pitch, from a low roar to a high squeal, and occur in one or both ears. It can be temporary or intermittent over a long period; some people experience ringing in their ears round the clock. In some cases, the sound can be so loud it interferes with the ability to hear properly and to concentrate.

Tinnitus is sometimes related to other medical conditions. Excess wax in the ear canal can reduce the ability to hear outside noises and amplify internal sounds. Age-related hearing loss, long-term use of certain medications, changes in ear bones and head trauma are other causes. Disorders of the blood vessels can cause a certain type of tinnitus called pulsatile tinnitus.

In some cases, removing the earwax, changing medications or treating an underly­ing vascular condition can solve the problem. For many people, however, tinnitus is a never-ending battle. Now a treatment developed by Dr. Daniel S. J. Choy, a pioneer in the develop­ment of medical technology, is bringing many people relief.

"Tinnitus can be debilitating," says Dr. Choy. "Many people find it difficult to work and socialize."

Dr. Choy, founder of the Laser Spine Center in Manhattan, decided to research technology to treat tinnitus when an executive he had successfully treated with percutaneous laser disk decompression, a technique Dr. Choy invented, reported that tinnitus was interfer­ing with his ability to concentrate at work.

A member of the staffs of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Sur­geons and the Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan, Dr. Choy has been a medical researcher for more than 40 years. He has conducted numerous studies into the application of laser technology, and he holds several patents for medical devices.

Dr. Choy came up with a novel treatment that uses the principle of sound cancel­lation to counteract symptoms of tinnitus. Called Phase Shift Tinnitus Reduction, or PSTR, the system includes identifying the frequency and amplitude of the sound the patients hears. Then a signal, six degrees out of phase with the identified tinnitus signal, is fed sequentially — six degrees, 12 degrees, etc. — into the patient's headphones for 30 seconds each, for 30 minutes or until 360 degrees is achieved.

The technique has shown promising results in the treatment of patients who expe­rience tinnitus as a single-pitched sound. Known as predominant tone tinnitus, it is the most common type of the condition.

A study presented by Dr. Choy at the Eighth International Tinnitus Seminar in Pau, France, in 2005 found that using the method once a week for three weeks resulted in 49 of 54 patients exhibiting at least a six-decibel reduction in volume of the sound, a measure of the severity of tinnitus. Twenty-one of 23 patients who used the method three times in a single week also had a six-decibel reduction in symptoms. The partial decrease of tinnitus volume and frequency of occurrence lasted an average of one week for responding patients.

"It has been gratifying to help people with tinnitus find a way to work and enjoy their lives again," says Dr. Choy. "We will be able to help even more with the custom treatment system called Tinnitus Phase-Out. It has been cleared by the FDA and is now available at our Tinnitus Control Center at 66 East 80th Street in Manhattan.”

Press Release

New Tinnitus Treatment Shows 82% Success Rate

A novel treatment for the condition known as predominant-tone tinnitus demonstrated as much as an 82% success rate according to a research study presented at the VIIIth International Tinnitus Seminar in Pau, France in September, ’05.

The treatment involves using a phase-shift sound cancellation protocol in which a patient’s tinnitus is first identified as to frequency and amplitude. Then, a signal, six degrees out of phase with the identified tinnitus signal, is fed sequentially (6 degrees, 12 degrees, etc.), into the patient’s headphones for 30 seconds each for 30 minutes, or until 360 degrees is achieved.

The study showed that using this sequential “shotgun” method once a week for three weeks resulted in 49 of 54 patients (91%) exhibiting at least a 6 dB reduction in amplitude (severity of tinnitus). It also reported that 21 of 23 patients (91%) treated in this manner three times in a single week (M,W,F) also had at least a 6 dB reduction in symptoms.

The positive response to the treatment (partial fall of tinnitus loudness and frequency of occurrence) lasted an average of one week for responding patients.

Predominant-tone tinnitus is tinnitus perceived mostly at a single pitch. Most tinnitus sufferers describe their tinnitus as a single-pitched sound.

The research paper was presented by Daniel S.J. Choy, M.D., F.A.C.P., of Columbia University (Emeritus) and was authored by Dr. Choy and Ivan Kaminow, Ph.D., Senior Scientist, Bell Laboratories (retired). Dr. Choy is Medical Director of Tinnitus Control, Inc. and Dr. Kaminow is a member of the company’s Scientific Advisory Board.

The Tinnitus Control Center has developed a proprietary custom treatment system called Tinnitus Phase-Out™ based on the technology and protocol used in the study. It will be marketed in Europe starting in November 2005 and will be introduced to the U.S. market in early 2006.

The International Tinnitus Seminar is the largest conference anywhere focused solely on tinnitus and this year was attended by more than 400 of the world’s leading researchers and clinicians in the field.

The research study was carried out in two parts. In Part 1, 102 patients suffering from predominant-tone tinnitus were rotated through three treatment protocols: The first, or Group A, was the control, or sham treatment. It consisted of exposing subjects to a single arbitrary sound wave without phase-shift, once a week for three weeks.

In Group B, each participant was subjected to a sound wave phase-shifted 180 degrees from the subject’s self-assessed tinnitus wave once a week for three weeks.

In Group C, subjects received the 6-degree sequential “shotgun” phase-shifted wave once a week for three weeks.

Positive responses (a 6 dB reduction in amplitude) were 24% for Group A, 27% for Group B, and 82% for Group C.

In part 2 of the study, 54 patients were treated with only the 6 degree sequential “shotgun” method for 30 minutes per week for three weeks. Positive responses were noted in 49 of 54(91%) of patients. Subsequently, a group of 23 patients were treated the same way but on a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule for only one week. Again, the positive response rate was 91% (21 of 23).

In his keynote address at the seminar, Dr. Jack Vernon, co-founder of the American Tinnitus Association and Director Emeritus of the Oregon Science Health University Center for Hearing Research, noted that, “Dan Choy has developed a new treatment protocol that has exhibited long periods of residual inhibition of one week or more. This is a remarkable achievement and is the only new idea which has a good chance of being confirmed by further studies.”

New PSTR Treatment for Tinnitus Introduced at New York Academy of Medicine Symposium

A new, non-invasive treatment that significantly reduces the debilitating effects of the most common form of tinnitus, or "ringing in the ears," was presented at a New York Academy of Medicine Symposium on Feb. 19, 2004 by Daniel S.J. Choy, M.D., of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and Lenox Hill Hospital.

The treatment, called Phase Shift Tinnitus Reduction, or PSTR, was recently cleared by the FDA. It addresses mono-frequency tinnitus—tinnitus perceived at a single pitch—which is prevalent in 76% of all cases.

Tinnitus is a condition characterized by unnatural noises in the ear. It is estimated that some 50 million Americans suffer, in one way or another, from its debilitating effects.

Dr. Daniel S.J. Choy presenting his findings on sound cancellation techniques for the treatment of tinnitus at the New York Academy of Medicine Symposium, Feb. 19. 2004.

The Symposium was sponsored by The New York Academy of Medicine Section on Biomedical Engineering and the IEEE Engineering in Medicine Society. More than 50 physicians, audiologists and other healthcare professionals attended.

Jack Vernon, Ph.D., Emeritus Professor of Otolaryngology at the Oregon Health Sciences University and Co-Founder of the American Tinnitus Association preceded Dr. Choy's presentation with an overview of the current state of tinnitus treatment.

Dr. Daniel S.J. Choy of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and Dr. Jack Vernon, Emeritus Professor of Otolaryngology at the Oregon Health Sciences University and Co-Founder of the American Tinnitus Association, each gave presentations at the New York Academy of Medicine Symposium on Tinnitus, Feb. 19, 2004.

The PSTR therapy introduced by Dr. Choy utilizes the principles of sound cancellation science to counteract tinnitus symptoms.

Dr. Choy reported that 83% of participants in the most recent clinical study of the treatment regimen demonstrated a positive response.

The first stage of PSTR treatment is "sound-typing" the patient to determine specific, individual tinnitus characteristics. Once the tinnitus has been matched, the patient is exposed, through headphones, to a prescribed, electronically manipulated tone.

More than 50 physicians, audiologists and other healthcare professionals attended the New York Academy of Medicine Symposium on Tinnitus Treatments and heard Dr. Daniel S.J. Choy present results of his research into sound cancellation techniques.

He added that "The residual effect of the treatment has been shown to last, on average, about one week. And some patients have reported residual inhibition of symptoms for as long as several weeks."

For more information about Tinnitus Phase-Out™, contact the Tinnitus Control Center, 66 East 80th Street, Suite 1A, New York, NY 10021, or phone toll free 888-535-6160 or 212-535-6160.