THE TIPA TINNITUS DEVICE  (2011) INTRODUCTION The TIPA Tinnitus Device is a digital audio player used to treat tinnitus. The device plays the Tipa sound signal which has been digitally engineered to produce residual inhibition of tinnitus. The patient listens to the sound signal once a day for 12 minutes using fully enclosed audio headphones. HISTORY Residual inhibition (RI) is the absence or reduction in loudness of tinnitus after  a sound signal stops. RI has been known since 1906 but despite extensive research in the 1970’s the duration of RI was short lived (30-60 seconds) and did not last long enough to be clinically useful as a treatment for tinnitus. As a result, research into the use of RI to treat tinnitus was abandoned. The discovery of TIPA was first published in 2008 and has resulted in a renewed interest in RI. The TIPA signal has been shown to induce prolonged RI and is unique in its ability to switch tinnitus off completely or partially for hours and even days in over 50% of tinnitus patients. This effect appears to become more powerful with repeated use. Some patients have produced long term full remission of tinnitus after using the Tipa Device. DISCOVERY The TIPA sound signal was developed over a seven year period of trial and error testing starting in 2001 using tinnitus patient volunteers at Dr Winkler’s Ear Surgery clinic. The project was designed to find a better sound signal for producing residual inhibition by using digital sound synthesizers and audio engineering techniques. The only way of observing tinnitus was by subjective response from the patient (i.e. what the patient tells the clinician) and therefore the research was painstakingly slow. The eventual result was the Tipa sound signal comprising a series of very low frequency digitally synthesised sounds which play for a total of 12 minutes.  SLEEP ENHANCEMENT Tinnitus causes stress and sleep disturbance. It is well recognised that stress and fatigue aggravate tinnitus and so a patient’s quality of life can enter a vicious cycle of deterioration. Since the Tipa Device can “switch off” or reduce the loudness of tinnitus prior to sleep, it  can break this cycle of deterioration.  Some patients have used the device again before the tinnitus returns and have been able to produce weeks of continuous tinnitus reduction. MECHANISMS Inhibitory processes are widespread in the brain. Inhibitory neurones have been identified in the cochlear nucleus in the brainstem as well as other parts of the auditory pathways and are thought to be involved in the production of tinnitus.  TIPA probably works by stimulating inhibitory pathways. REGULATORY The TIPA Device received approval as a Class IIa medical device from the Therapeutic Goods Administration of Australia in June 2010 and is on the Australian Therapeutic Goods Register. It also has a CE mark for use in Europe. TIPA is a registered trademark and is patented. RESEARCH Continuing research with TIPA is being carried out to learn more about the underlying physiology that produces prolonged residual inhibition and how further manipulation of the TIPA sound signal can enhance its effectiveness.  In August 2011 the first objective evidence of residual inhibition was produced using magnetoencephalography on a patient who had his tinnitus switched off with TIPA. These results were published at the Tinnitus Research Initiative conference at Buffalo, New York on August 19th 2011 and are being published on this website. CONTACT Dr Peter Winkler   P.O. Box 1529                           Executive Chairman Potts Point, NSW 1335 AUSTRALIA             TIPA Tinnitus Corporation Ph: 02 97266614        www.tipatinnitus.com email: info@tipatinnitus.com

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