{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T21:03:58Z","timestamp":1787087038162,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,1]],"date-time":"2024-05-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1714521600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002347","name":"The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["16SV7875"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["16SV7875"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002347","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Tinnitus\u2014the perception of sound despite the absence of an external source\u2014can be a debilitating condition for which there are currently no pharmacological remedies. Our proof of concept study focused on the immediate effects of non-invasive electrical stimulation through the ear canal on loudness and tinnitus-induced distress. In addition, we aimed to identify variables that may affect the simulation outcomes. Methods: Sixty-six patients (29 women and 37 men, mean age 54.4 \u00b1 10.4) with chronic tinnitus were recruited to the tertiary referral hospital between December 2019 and December 2021. They underwent 10 min of electrical stimulation through the ear canal for three consecutive days. Visual analog scales measured loudness and tinnitus-induced distress immediately before and after stimulation. Results: After three days of electrical stimulation, tinnitus loudness decreased in 47% of patients, 45.5% reported no change, and 7.6% reported worsening. Tinnitus severity decreased in 36.4% of cases, 59.1% of patients reported no change, and 4.5% reported worsening. Women responded positively to therapy earlier than men. In addition, tinnitus distress decreased in patients with compensated tinnitus but not in those with uncompensated tinnitus. Finally, patients with bilateral tinnitus improved earlier than those with unilateral tinnitus, and the age of the patients did not influence the stimulation results. Conclusions: Our proof of concept study confirms the potential of non-invasive electrical stimulation of the ear as a promising screening approach to identifying patients for more advanced electrostimulation treatment, such as an extracochlear anti-tinnitus implant. These findings have practical implications for tinnitus management, offering hope for improved patient care.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm13092663","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,1]],"date-time":"2024-05-01T08:59:39Z","timestamp":1714553979000},"page":"2663","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Electrical Ear Canal Stimulation as a Therapeutic Approach for Tinnitus\u2014A Proof of Concept Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Jana","family":"Vater","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Charit\u00e9-Universit\u00e4tsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universit\u00e4t and Berlin Humboldt Universit\u00e4t zu Berlin, Charit\u00e9platz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Moritz","family":"Gr\u00f6schel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Charit\u00e9-Universit\u00e4tsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universit\u00e4t and Berlin Humboldt Universit\u00e4t zu Berlin, Charit\u00e9platz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9292-6606","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Agnieszka J.","family":"Szczepek","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Charit\u00e9-Universit\u00e4tsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universit\u00e4t and Berlin Humboldt Universit\u00e4t zu Berlin, Charit\u00e9platz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Heidi","family":"Olze","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Charit\u00e9-Universit\u00e4tsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universit\u00e4t and Berlin Humboldt Universit\u00e4t zu Berlin, Charit\u00e9platz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1600","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(13)60142-7","article-title":"Tinnitus","volume":"382","author":"Baguley","year":"2013","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"866","DOI":"10.3389\/fnins.2018.00866","article-title":"Pathophysiology of subjective tinnitus: Triggers and maintenance","volume":"12","author":"Haider","year":"2018","journal-title":"Front. 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