Institute of Distributed Systems, Ulm University, 89081 Ulm, Germany.
Department of Psychology, University of Zürich, Box 1, CH-8050 Zürich, Switzerland.
Sensors (Basel). 2020 Mar 19;20(6):1725. doi: 10.3390/s20061725.
Smartphones containing sophisticated high-end hardware and offering high computational capabilities at extremely manageable costs have become mainstream and an integral part of users' lives. Widespread adoption of smartphone devices has encouraged the development of many smartphone applications, resulting in a well-established ecosystem, which is easily discoverable and accessible via respective marketplaces of differing mobile platforms. These smartphone applications are no longer exclusively limited to entertainment purposes but are increasingly established in the scientific and medical field. In the context of tinnitus, the ringing in the ear, these smartphone apps range from relief, management, self-help, all the way to interfacing external sensors to better understand the phenomenon. In this paper, we aim to bring forth the smartphone applications in and around tinnitus. Based on the PRISMA guidelines, we systematically analyze and investigate the current state of smartphone apps, that are directly applied in the context of tinnitus. In particular, we explore Google Scholar, CiteSeerX, Microsoft Academics, Semantic Scholar for the identification of scientific contributions. Additionally, we search and explore Google's Play and Apple's App Stores to identify relevant smartphone apps and their respective properties. This review work gives (1) an up-to-date overview of existing apps, and (2) lists and discusses scientific literature pertaining to the smartphone apps used within the context of tinnitus.
智能手机内置了复杂的高端硬件，并以极其可承受的成本提供了高计算能力，已成为主流，成为用户生活不可或缺的一部分。智能手机设备的广泛采用鼓励了许多智能手机应用的发展，从而形成了一个成熟的生态系统，通过不同移动平台的各自市场轻松发现和访问。这些智能手机应用不再仅限于娱乐用途，而是越来越多地在科学和医学领域得到应用。在耳鸣（耳内的响声）的背景下，这些智能手机应用从缓解、管理、自助等方面，一直到与外部传感器接口以更好地了解该现象，范围广泛。在本文中，我们旨在介绍耳鸣领域的智能手机应用。根据 PRISMA 指南，我们系统地分析和研究了直接应用于耳鸣背景的智能手机应用的现状。具体来说，我们在 Google Scholar、CiteSeerX、Microsoft Academics 和 Semantic Scholar 上进行了搜索，以识别科学贡献。此外，我们还在 Google Play 和 Apple App Store 上进行了搜索，以识别相关的智能手机应用及其各自的特性。这项综述工作提供了（1）现有应用程序的最新概述，以及（2）列出并讨论了与耳鸣相关的智能手机应用程序所使用的科学文献。
