Tinnitus treatment device and recording medium

Abstract

A tinnitus treatment device provides a sound stimulus for tinnitus treatment to a user who is a tinnitus patient on a unit time basis, and includes: a controller; and a recording medium in which a treatment program is stored. The treatment program is executed by the controller to perform: analogizing one or both of a RI effect curve and a TL decrease curve for tinnitus treatment sound provided to the user; generating the tinnitus treatment sound based on the one or both of the RI effect curve and the TL decrease curve which is analogized; and presenting the tinnitus treatment sound generated to the user via a sound presentation unit on the unit time basis to provide the sound stimulus to the user.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A tinnitus treatment device that provides a sound stimulus for tinnitus treatment to a user who is a tinnitus patient on a unit time basis, the tinnitus treatment device comprising:
 a controller; and 
 a recording medium in which a treatment program is stored, wherein 
 the treatment program is executed by the controller to perform:
 analogizing one or both of a residual inhibition (RI) effect curve and a TL decrease curve for tinnitus treatment sound provided to the user; 
 generating the tinnitus treatment sound based on the one or both of the RI effect curve and the TL decrease curve which is analogized; and 
 presenting the tinnitus treatment sound generated to the user via a sound presentation unit on the unit time basis to provide the sound stimulus to the user. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The tinnitus treatment device according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the RI effect curve indicates, as progress of a tinnitus volume, RI effects before and after provision of the a specific sound stimulus to a specific user, 
 the RI effect curve indicates the progress during a period in which the presenting of the tinnitus treatment sound begins, ends, and the tinnitus volume at the end of the presenting returns to the tinnitus volume before the presenting, and  
 in the analogizing of the RI effect curve, RI effect curves of specific tinnitus treatment sound provided to a specific group of tinnitus patients each being the user are analogized based on one or more typical RI effect curves. 
 
     
     
       3. The tinnitus treatment device according to  claim 1 , wherein
 for each of users each being the user, 
 the analogizing of the RI effect curve includes 
 scaling the one or more typical RI effect curves linearly or nonlinearly along one or both of a time axis and a volume axis, under assumption that a time change of a tinnitus volume approaches a specific value while the sound stimulus is constant. 
 
     
     
       4. The tinnitus treatment device according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the TL decrease curve indicates a time change of a tinnitus volume during a period in which the a specific sound stimulus is provided to a specific user, and  
 in the analogizing of the TL decrease curve, TL decrease curves of specific tinnitus treatment sound provided to a specific group of tinnitus patients each being the user are analogized based on one or more typical TL decrease curves. 
 
     
     
       5. The tinnitus treatment device according to  claim 1 , wherein
 for each of users each being the user, 
 the analogizing of the TL decrease curve includes 
 scaling the one or more typical TL decrease curves linearly or nonlinearly along one or both of a time axis and a volume axis. 
 
     
     
       6. The tinnitus treatment device according to  claim 1 , wherein
 in the presenting performed in the treatment program, 
 the tinnitus treatment sound generated is presented to the user during a period in which a tinnitus volume of the user that is decreased from an initial tinnitus volume by RI effect or long-time masker effect returns to the initial tinnitus volume after being decreased, the tinnitus treatment sound providing a sound stimulus causing perception update. 
 
     
     
       7. The tinnitus treatment device according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the treatment program further performs:
 subtracting, from (a1) an integrated amount of sound stimuli related to TL decrease, (b1) a sound pressure stimulus related to TL decrease to obtain (c1) a sound change stimulus related to TL decrease, 
 (a1) the integrated amount indicating an amount of TL decrease of the user presented with the tinnitus treatment sound having a predetermined volume during a predetermined period, 
 (b1) the sound pressure stimulus indicating an amount of TL decrease of the user presented, during the predetermined period, with sound having values fixed to an average value of volumes, an average value of pitches, and an average value of tones of the tinnitus treatment sound during the predetermined period, 
 (c1) the sound change stimulus being regarding the tinnitus treatment sound; and 
 analogizing, for a tinnitus treatment sound different from the tinnitus treatment sound or for a tinnitus patient different from the user, at least one of (a2) an integrated amount of sound stimuli related to TL decrease, (b2) a sound pressure stimulus related to TL decrease, and (c2) a sound change stimulus related to TL decrease, in accordance with (c1) the sound change stimulus obtained in the subtracting. 
 
 
     
     
       8. The tinnitus treatment device according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the treatment program further performs:
 subtracting, from (a1) an integrated amount of sound stimuli related to RI effect, (b1) a sound pressure stimulus related to RI effect to obtain (c1) a sound change stimulus related to RI effect, 
 (a1) the integrated amount indicating an amount of RI effect of the user presented with the tinnitus treatment sound having a predetermined volume during a predetermined period, 
 (b1) the sound pressure stimulus indicating an amount of RI effect of the user presented, during the predetermined period, with sound having values fixed to an average value of volumes, an average value of pitches, and an average value of tones of the tinnitus treatment sound during the predetermined period, 
 (c1) the sound change stimulus being regarding the tinnitus treatment sound; and 
 
 analogizing, for a tinnitus treatment sound different from the tinnitus treatment sound or for a tinnitus patient different from the user, at least one of (a2) an integrated amount of sound stimuli related to RI effect, (b2) a sound pressure stimulus related to RI effect, and (c2) a sound change stimulus related to RI effect, in accordance with (c1) the sound change stimulus obtained in the subtracting. 
 
     
     
       9. The tinnitus treatment device according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the treatment program is executed by the controller to further perform:
 obtaining a value indicating a result of at least one of tinnitus audibility examination and tinnitus examination of the user; and 
 selecting a setting for reproducing the tinnitus treatment sound based on the value obtained. 
 
 
     
     
       10. The tinnitus treatment device according to  claim 9 , wherein
 the result of the tinnitus examination is at least one of:
 a result including at least one of a pitch expressing tinnitus, a volume expressing the tinnitus, and a linguistic expression of a tone of tinnitus which is expressed by the user; and 
 a result indicating mask sound shielding the tinnitus when the user listens to the mask sound. 
 
 
     
     
       11. The tinnitus treatment device according to  claim 9 , wherein
 the setting for reproducing the tinnitus treatment sound is performed based on data indicating a correlation related to tinnitus treatment effect between (i) tinnitus treatment sound producing tinnitus treatment effect when the user listens to the tinnitus treatment sound and (ii) the result of the at least one of the tinnitus  audibility examination and the tinnitus examination. 
 
     
     
       12. The tinnitus treatment device according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a power source that receives power from a battery, wherein 
 the controller is driven with supply of the power received by the power source from the battery. 
 
     
     
       13. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a tinnitus treatment program that controls a tinnitus treatment device, the tinnitus treatment device including a controller and being a device that provides a sound stimulus for tinnitus treatment to a user who is a tinnitus patient on a unit time basis, the tinnitus treatment program being executed by the controller to perform:
 analogizing one or both of a residual inhibition (RI) effect curve and a TL decrease curve for tinnitus treatment sound provided to the user; 
 generating the tinnitus treatment sound based on the one or both of the RI effect curve and the TL decrease curve which is analogized; and 
 presenting the tinnitus treatment sound generated to the user via a sound presentation unit on the unit time basis to provide the sound stimulus to the user.