2009 BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition Runner-Up Now Evolved into a Company

Last year a student project investigating a low frequency therapy for temporary tinnitus was joint runner-up in the 2009 BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition. This week, the project which has now evolved into a web-based company, Restored Hearing will be one of the companies showcasing at the 2010 exhibition.

The company, which originated in Co. Sligo, has also become a client company of NovaUCD, the Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre at University College Dublin. One of the company co-founders is now a first year undergraduate physics student at the University.

Temporary tinnitus, or ‘ringing in the ears’  is caused by exposure to loud environments, for example listening to loud music at concerts or on iPods or operating loud machinery.  In such noisy environments damage is done to the sound receptor cells in the cochlea. The cochlea is that part of the ear which converts wave-vibrations into electric signals before sending these signals onto the brain.  When these receptor cells, or tiny hairs, get bent or damaged during exposure to the loud noises, signals continue to be sent to the brain even after the exposure to the noise has ceased. This results in a continued perception of a noise that isn’t there.

 Rhona Togher, Eimear O’Carroll and Anthony Carolan, co-founders Restored Hearing

To alleviate this problem and to assist sufferers, Restored Hearing offers a unique online and tailored, minute-long therapy sessions for individuals who want to clear their ears of the ‘ringing’ sensation and regain ‘buzz free’ hearing.  The therapy is based on sound and wave theory, using a low hum to physically stimulate the cochlear hairs back into their original upright position.

The therapy sessions, which have a 99% success rate, can be purchased singly by SMS payment or in batches of ten using a credit card. Restored Hearing has also recently launched a subscription payment that provides monthly, quarterly or annual use of the sound therapy.

Eimear O’Carroll, Rhona Togher, Niamh Chapman, then 6th Year Leaving Certificate students in the Ursuline College, Sligo, together with Anthony Carolan, their physics teacher entered the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition 2009 with a project entitled ‘The Sound of Silence – An Investigation into Low Frequency Therapy for Tinnitus Sufferers’. In addition to being overall runner-up, their project won the Health Research Board’s special prize for medical innovation.

Since last January, Eimear, Rhona and Anthony further developed the project incorporating as Restored Hearing in May 2009 and formally launching in August. Since then the company has received international interest and sales in UK/Ireland, Europe, North America and Australia. Following a ‘live-test’ of the company’s therapy on national Dutch TV last November the company received a significant boost in sales in the Netherlands.

Speaking in advance of the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition 2010, Eimear O’Carroll, co-founder, said, “We are delighted to be exhibiting at this year’s exhibition. We’re genuinely surprised that we have gone from a school project to a corporate exhibitor in one year but this illustrates the importance of the competition.” She added, “Taking part in the BT Young Scientist competition has shown us that science, and making new discoveries, can lead to both business and academic opportunities.” She concluded, “On a lighter note, the whole experience of meeting like-minded young scientists from all over the country and making lots of new friends makes all the hard work worthwhile.”

In December Restored Hearing won the Emerging Technology Award in the Connacht Regional Final of the Ulster Bank Achievers Awards, and will take part in the national finals in March.

During 2010 the company intends to continue researching the therapy’s effects for the sufferers of permanent tinnitus. In addition to running the company, Rhona and Eimear are continuing their studies and are undergraduate physics students in University College Dublin and University of Edinburgh respectively.

Restored Hearing has been supported by the Sligo County Enterprise Board and the Business Innovation Centre, Sligo IT.

Restored Hearing will be exhibiting at stand 28 at the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition 2010 which takes place in the Main Hall, RDS, Dublin from 12th-16th January.

ENDS

12 January 2010

For further information contact Micéal Whelan, NovaUCD, e: miceal.whelan@ucd.ie, t: +353 (0)1 716 3712. 

Editor's Notes

Restored Hearing established in 2009 has developed a therapy to alleviate temporary tinnitus. The therapy which lasts for approximately one minute, only requires a broadband connection, a pair of outer ear headphones and it has a 99% success rate proven by scientific trials. .

NovaUCD is University College Dublin’s Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre.  NovaUCD is responsible for the commercialisation of intellectual property arising from UCD research and for the development of co-operation with the industry and business communities. NovaUCD as a purpose-built incubation centre also nurtures new technology and knowledge-intensive enterprises. NovaUCD has been funded through a unique public-private partnership that includes AIB Bank, Arthur Cox, Deloitte, Enterprise Ireland, Ericsson, Goodbody Stockbrokers, UCD and Xilinx.