NUI Maynooth spin-out Neuromod Devices is to hire 50 staff over the next five years, following the launch of the firm’s new treatment for tinnitus.

Based in NovaUCD, Neuromod was founded by Dr Ross O'Neill in 2010 to develop new technologies for the treatment of neurological conditions.

The firm's 'mutebutton' tinnitus treatment is a new approach to treating the condition and combines auditory and lingual (tongue) stimulation that gradually trains the brain to tune out the ringing drone constantly 'heard' by tinnitus sufferers.

Neuromod Devices plans to add 50 highly specialised positions to its workforce in the coming years, with the backing of Enterprise Ireland.

The mutebutton device will be officially launched in Ireland on December 15, ahead of a wider European launch in January 2015.

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Resembling an iPod in size, the device is meant to be used for 30 minutes a day over a ten-week period.

Dr O'Neill said that tinnitus affects one in ten people, adding that the mutebutton device was the culmination of four years of R&D.

“I am immensely proud of what we have achieved as a small Irish SME and this is in no small part thanks to the state support we have received from Enterprise Ireland and the NDRC.”