There is new hope for people whose life is affected by tinnitus as a recent study revealed that magnetic pulse targeted to the brain can actually relieve the chronic medical condition.

Researchers at the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Oregon Health & Science University discovered that through a noninvasive procedure involving the stimulation of the scalp, the constant ringing in the ear suffered by millions of Americans can be alleviated, Oregon Live reported.

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 Tinnitus, a condition affecting up to 15 percent of adults in the United States, is manifested by hearing sounds that have no obvious source. The sound can be in the form of a hum, buzz or whistle that is heard either in one ear or both ears.

In the study involving 70 patients who'd had tinnitus for at least a year, some of the subjects received repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation or rTMS sessions on 10 consecutive workdays - a process that involves delivering 2,000 electromagnetic pulses to the brain per session through a coil to the scalp - while others were subjected to placebo treatment, according to Times Gazette.

Scientists have projected low frequency rTMS that diminishes brain activity in the stimulated regions as a treatment for medical conditions related to increased cortical activity, including tinnitus.

The results of the research were rather promising, revealing that tinnitus symptoms were alleviated for at least six months in half of the patients who received actual treatment versus the placebo treatment.

Robert Folmer, associate professor of otolaryngology/head and neck surgery at Oregon Health & Science University, said the team is looking forward to conduct a larger, multi-site clinical trial in the future. The stimulation should then be adopted as a treatment for chronic tinnitus once proven effective.

"For some study participants, this was the first time in years that they experienced any relief in symptoms. These promising results bring us closer to developing a long-sought treatment for this condition that affects an enormous number of Americans, including many men and women who have served in our armed forces," Folmer explained, Philly.com has learned.

The study was published July 16 in the journal JAMA Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery.

TagsTinnitus, magnetic pulse, Science, treatment