A Review on the Applications of Machine Learning for Tinnitus Diagnosis Using EEG Signals

Abstract: Tinnitus is a prevalent hearing disorder that can be caused by various factors such as age, hearing loss, exposure to loud noises, ear infections or tumors, certain medications, head or neck injuries, and psychological conditions like anxiety and depression. While not every patient requires medical attention, about 20% of sufferers seek clinical intervention. Early diagnosis is crucial for effective treatment. New developments have been made in tinnitus detection to aid in early detection of this illness. Over the past few years, there has been a notable growth in the usage of electroencephalography (EEG) to study variations in oscillatory brain activity related to tinnitus. However, the results obtained from numerous studies vary greatly, leading to conflicting conclusions. Currently, clinicians rely solely on their expertise to identify individuals with tinnitus. Researchers in this field have incorporated various data modalities and machine-learning techniques to aid clinicians in identifying tinnitus characteristics and classifying people with tinnitus. The purpose of writing this article is to review articles that focus on using ML to identify or predict tinnitus patients using EEG signals as input data. We have evaluated 11 articles published between 2016 and 2023 using a systematic literature review (SLR) method. This article arranges perfect summaries of all the research reviewed and compares the significant aspects of each. Additionally, we performed statistical analyses to gain a deeper comprehension of the most recent research in this area. Almost all of the reviewed articles followed a five-step procedure to achieve the goal of tinnitus. Disclosure. Finally, we discuss the open affairs and challenges in this method of tinnitus recognition or prediction and suggest future directions for research.