A Quiet Innovation

Story excerpt provided by Ohio University.

Written by Andrea Gibson.

It starts as a persistent white noise in the ears, and then it never stops. Buzzing and humming, whistling and popping, tinnitus can drive a person to distraction and distress, triggering depression and anxiety, interrupting sleep, and breaking the ability to concentrate at work.

The medical condition affects some 20 million Americans, and it’s the top service-related disability reported by military veterans. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs spends $1.5 billion annually on treating the condition, which impacts about one million service personnel. The causes of the condition are diverse: head trauma, the side effects of certain drugs, a companion to age-related hearing loss, and the exposure to a sudden or prolonged loud noise. There is no cure for tinnitus, which scientists have found to be rooted in the brain…

…Wiseman, who has experience with biomedical start-ups, helped DiGiovanni navigate relationships with potential manufacturers. The audiologist formed a start-up company, Sanuthera, around the technology and established a headquarters at the Innovation Center, Ohio University’s small business incubator. TechGROWTH Ohio awarded the company a growth grant of $337,000 to develop a prototype and pursue testing of the new device in the hopes of attracting a manufacturer…

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Originally published April 20, 2016.