Help for hearing problems among UK’s next big commercial prospects
The University is a finalist in the Make it in Great Britain Challenge technology challenge. The application was led by the University's Enterprise and Business Development Team.
We have been shortlisted in the Life-Changing category for a new Tinnitus relief technology. Tinnitus is estimated to affect up to 10% of the western population. The tinnitus relief technology is being developed at the University of Leicester in collaboration with industrial partners Orthoscopics and the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, led by Dr Mike Mulheran in the University Medical School and involving the Space Research Centre.
The technology may provide potential respite for responsive tinnitus sufferers and is based on the discovery that exposure to precise ‘narrow band’ wavelengths of light from the colour spectrum appears to provide relief from Tinnitus symptoms in an estimated 40% of sufferers. The technology uses red, green and blue LEDs, that can be finely adjusted to produce a colour specific to an individual. Responsive tinnitus sufferers report symptomatic relief over the period of light exposure.
Earlier this year, the technology won a Design Council Award to turn smart ideas into viable products through design.
