Member- Apr 6, 2020
- 1,031
- Tinnitus Since
- 2016
- Cause of Tinnitus
- 2016: headphones, 2020: worsened thanks to Rammstein
I've just discovered that Dr. De Ridder has collaborated with Delft University of Technology on developing a bi-modal stimulation device that is quite similar to Shore's Auricle.
There are plans to start clinical trials with this device, but so far I can't find any information about when it might take place.
Here's a summary of the research paper:
Abstract
Approximately 15-20% of the world population is affected by tinnitus, a hearing condition associated with phantom sound perception. A large number of sufferers experience a severe level of tinnitus and they are not able to conduct a normal life because they develop insomnia, depression, and distress.
However, currently there are no treatments that have demonstrated to be effective in modulating tinnitus or suppressing its related annoyance from a long-term perspective. What is known is that the patients exhibit abnormal electrical activity in multiple areas of the auditory and the central nervous systems. This is the reason why the focus of the scientists has shifted to multi-modal stimulation: multiple stimulations of equal or different nature (e.g. double electrical stimulation or acoustic-electrical stimulation) are applied at the same time in the attempt to induce neuroplasticity and restore the normal electrical activity in the targeted areas. Multi-modal stimulation has brought significant improvements both in terms of tinnitus intensity and distress, but the studies conducted are too little to derive conclusions.
The challenge of this work is to design a portable multi-modal stimulator that is able to provide bilateral acoustic and electrical stimulation simultaneously. The device works at the same time as an audio player and a transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulator, with the purpose of contemporaneously stimulating the auditory cortex and the autonomic nervous system or the dorsal cochlear nucleus through the vagal nerve or the C2 nerve, respectively. Bi-modal stimulation is based on the random presentation of pure tones matched to the tinnitus frequency pitch combined with two possible electrical stimulation wave forms: a novel one characterized by the superposition of a low-frequency noise on a DC component ("noise + DC" stimulation) and the second one is burst stimulation. Both the electrical stimulations are current-driven and largely customizable due to the wide programmability of the stimulation parameters. The analog design is realized in such a way that two identical output currents are delivered to the tissue, allowing for bilateral stimulation. The low power consumption and the small dimensions and weight of the device will permit the tinnitus patient to use it for several hours per day while performing his daily life without impairments.
There are plans to start clinical trials with this device, but so far I can't find any information about when it might take place.
Here's a summary of the research paper:
Abstract
Approximately 15-20% of the world population is affected by tinnitus, a hearing condition associated with phantom sound perception. A large number of sufferers experience a severe level of tinnitus and they are not able to conduct a normal life because they develop insomnia, depression, and distress.
However, currently there are no treatments that have demonstrated to be effective in modulating tinnitus or suppressing its related annoyance from a long-term perspective. What is known is that the patients exhibit abnormal electrical activity in multiple areas of the auditory and the central nervous systems. This is the reason why the focus of the scientists has shifted to multi-modal stimulation: multiple stimulations of equal or different nature (e.g. double electrical stimulation or acoustic-electrical stimulation) are applied at the same time in the attempt to induce neuroplasticity and restore the normal electrical activity in the targeted areas. Multi-modal stimulation has brought significant improvements both in terms of tinnitus intensity and distress, but the studies conducted are too little to derive conclusions.
The challenge of this work is to design a portable multi-modal stimulator that is able to provide bilateral acoustic and electrical stimulation simultaneously. The device works at the same time as an audio player and a transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulator, with the purpose of contemporaneously stimulating the auditory cortex and the autonomic nervous system or the dorsal cochlear nucleus through the vagal nerve or the C2 nerve, respectively. Bi-modal stimulation is based on the random presentation of pure tones matched to the tinnitus frequency pitch combined with two possible electrical stimulation wave forms: a novel one characterized by the superposition of a low-frequency noise on a DC component ("noise + DC" stimulation) and the second one is burst stimulation. Both the electrical stimulations are current-driven and largely customizable due to the wide programmability of the stimulation parameters. The analog design is realized in such a way that two identical output currents are delivered to the tissue, allowing for bilateral stimulation. The low power consumption and the small dimensions and weight of the device will permit the tinnitus patient to use it for several hours per day while performing his daily life without impairments.
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