[Interview] MIJ Leads the Tinnitus Treatment Field with Its Tinnitus Management Platform and Dedicated Headset

| Building an integrated ecosystem spanning hardware, software, data, and semiconductors
| Over 80% tinnitus symptom relief rate, with higher treatment completion compared to in-ear earphone–based therapies
| Expanding business domains into healthcare, diagnostics, and defense through in-house fabless design capabilities

MIJ CEO Jin-Sook Heo (Photo = MIJ)

[BioTimes] — The global tinnitus management market is estimated to be worth approximately USD 2.5–3.5 billion as of the mid-2020s. It is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 4–8% through 2030, expanding to an estimated USD 4–5 billion market.

Key drivers of rising demand for tinnitus and hearing-loss management include the aging population, increased exposure to earphones and noise, and growing awareness of mental health. In addition, the hearing-loss treatment market is projected to grow from approximately USD 11.5 billion in 2024 to more than USD 17.5 billion by 2030, further broadening the scope of the digital hearing healthcare market.

In particular, interest is rapidly increasing in digital therapeutics and remote treatment solutions for tinnitus, as they offer fewer side effects than pharmaceuticals and enable long-term management. Recently, research into digital therapies has been actively advancing, including smartphone- and wearable-based sound therapy, internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (iCBT), and decentralized (remote) clinical trials.

MIJ aims to lead the tinnitus treatment field through its tinnitus management platform and dedicated headset. Starting with tinnitus and hearing-loss management solutions, the company is growing into a digital healthcare and bio-semiconductor company by integrating biosensors with fabless system-on-chip (SoC) technologies.

We spoke with CEO Jin-Sook Heo to learn more.

(Photo = MIJ)

◇ Tinnitus Treatment Anytime, Anywhere — Without Time or Location Constraints

MIJ was founded in October 2019. In its early days, the company was a hardware-focused enterprise developing and manufacturing bone-conduction headsets and Bluetooth audio devices. However, it later shifted its direction beyond “simple device manufacturing” to create digital healthcare services that deliver meaningful, real-world benefits to patients suffering from tinnitus and hearing loss.

Today, MIJ is evolving into a smart healthcare fabless company, expanding its business scope beyond tinnitus and hearing care to include non-contact biosignal sensors, point-of-care testing (POCT) kits, and its AI system-on-chip (SoC) platform, “POTATO PI.”

CEO Jin-Sook Heo stated, “Some reports indicate that 15–30% of the global population experience tinnitus at least once in their lifetime, which means tinnitus is no longer a niche issue. MIJ does not view tinnitus and hearing loss as conditions people must simply endure, but as critical healthcare areas that require proactive management.”

MIJ brings together engineers from diverse disciplines, including bone-conduction and acoustic engineering, signal processing, firmware and SoC design, and app and web service development. The company also works closely with medical and clinical experts in fields such as audiology and otolaryngology, and is building collaborative research networks with universities and hospitals.

Recently, MIJ has further strengthened its capabilities by welcoming talent with experience in 60GHz mmWave radar, POCT biosensors, and fabless semiconductor design, as it expands into defense, biotechnology, and semiconductor sectors. Through this, the company is growing into a team with strong convergence expertise in digital healthcare and bio-semiconductors.
 

Tinnitus Medical Device “ETEREO TC Square” (Photo = MIJ)

MIJ currently provides a sound-therapy–based tinnitus medical device consisting of the tinnitus and hearing management platform “ETEROCARE” and the bone-conduction headset dedicated to tinnitus management, “ETEREO TC Square.” Developed through joint research with the Department of Speech and Audiology at Hallym University, ETEREO TC Square has received global recognition, including the CES 2022 Innovation Award in the Digital Healthcare category.

The company is also developing a non-contact biosignal monitoring system. By applying a 60GHz mmWave radar sensor, the system measures respiration rate, heart rate, and body movement without physical contact. Powered by AI, it provides abnormality analysis, early detection of falls or wandering, and early warning alerts. Currently, the system is being developed as a military-use solution with support from the 2025 Defense Venture Support Program, with plans to expand its application to elderly and single-person household healthcare, inpatient monitoring systems for long-term care hospitals, sleep-related services, and the security industry.

In addition, MIJ is expanding into a comprehensive healthcare platform by integrating POCT biosensors, enabling the connection of broad biosignal and diagnostic data, including ear health data.

CEO Jin-Sook Heo stated, “MIJ’s tinnitus medical device delivers personalized therapeutic sound content optimized to each patient’s hearing condition. With a dedicated headset designed to support long-duration sound therapy, patients can undergo treatment anytime and anywhere, without restrictions on time or location.”

She added, “MIJ has built an integrated architecture encompassing hardware, software, data, and semiconductors. Because tinnitus-specific bone-conduction headsets, tinnitus and hearing management platforms, non-contact biosensors, and SoCs are all designed and developed in-house, interoperability between products and efficiency in data utilization are exceptionally high.”

(Photo = MIJ)

◇ Toward a Complete Lineup of General-Purpose Bio & Healthcare Devices

MIJ possesses more than a decade of accumulated expertise in bone-conduction technology and tinnitus sound-therapy algorithms, along with over 60 intellectual property rights. As of November 2025, the company has filed a cumulative total of 65 IP applications, including patents and trademarks, many of which are related to bone conduction, tinnitus treatment, and biosensor technologies.

MIJ’s tinnitus and hearing management solutions are being supplied primarily to ENT clinics, audiology clinics, rehabilitation centers, veterans’ and defense-related institutions, as well as through online channels both domestically and internationally. Data accumulated through tinnitus self-assessment and management programs continues to grow steadily. The primary user groups include individuals aged 40–70 suffering from chronic tinnitus accompanied by sleep disturbances, concentration difficulties, and emotional discomfort, as well as those in their 20s and 30s experiencing early-stage tinnitus and hearing loss due to increased noise exposure and earphone use.

CEO Jin-Sook Heo noted, “In clinical studies conducted annually since 2019, groups that used ETEREO TC Square in combination with personalized sound therapy showed a tinnitus symptom relief rate exceeding 80%, along with higher treatment completion and satisfaction rates compared to conventional in-ear earphone–based therapies.” She added, “TC Square has been widely recognized for its technological excellence, earning accolades such as the CES 2022 Innovation Award, Korean MFDS Class II tinnitus retraining medical device certification, and selection as one of Fortune Korea’s ‘Emerging S. Korean Healthcare Innovations Top 40.’”

In the short term, MIJ is expanding partnerships with hospitals and clinics, as well as veterans, defense, and industrial accident insurance channels, to make its solutions more accessible to tinnitus and hearing-loss patients in Korea. Over the mid-to-long term, the company aims to establish an On-Device Biosensing Platform that integrates diverse data collected through mmWave non-contact biosensors and POCT biosensors.

“Our goal is to build an on-device AI healthcare ecosystem that safely collects and analyzes biosignals close to the human body and immediately feeds the results back to patients,” Heo said. “Ultimately, we aim to complete a lineup of general-purpose bio and healthcare devices that can be used in homes, hospitals, military bases, and industrial sites.”

BioTimes — Reporter Seo-kyung Shin
ssk@biotimes.co.kr