Acoustic CR® Neuromodulation: a New Treatment for Tinnitus

Here's something that's been realised here in the UK.

It will only work if your tinnitus is tonal, and no higher than 10 kHz.

http://www.thetinnitusclinic.co.uk/tinnitus-treatment/acoustic-neuromodulation/

 

Put aside the cost what do you think about this theres a trial complete on this one. The second trial with Anm, is on the next model with "real life"

 

Thats the one I think, you're right no results although the study is complete??? How can this be??

 

i ve called the company in germany and they gave me some audiologists contact number and also got the price information here:
http://www.info-acouphenes.com/foru...source=activity&id=4280269:Topic:20835&page=2

The device will cost € 2685, - and is currently a private performance.
Please note arise that, for the further implementation of the therapy costs by the treating ENT specialist.

You can use the stimulator within eight weeks, at cost (with a total service charge of € 390, - Return), if you do not respond to therapy should be.

 

Yes, I have family in Germany and well aware it's half the price, it's not just a case of buying the unit and then you use it, it needs adjustment as your tinnitus frequency begins to adjust, this can only be done by a ANM qualified audiologist. Hence going backwards and forth. I think in the long run you would spend what you save in travel??

 

What about Canada or North America? Does anyone know of any centers prescribing/selling it? If I could get the number of the Company that would be great.

 

Hi Don, They have plans to launch in USA, I dont know exactly when but you could possibly send them an email

 

Great work Karen

 

Hi, I spoke to a doctor at this clinic in Berlin. http://hno-sz.de/index.php?mainmenuid=1

They were very helpful but have only treated 4 or 5 patients to date. The doctor pointed out that to get the best out of the device you really need to near the clinic for the first 4 to 6 weeks as the device needs to be constantly adjusted based on your feedback. The costs were approx €2600 for the device and €1200 for consultation.

My only concern with the tinnitus clinic in London ( apart from the cost) is that there doesn't seem to be any ENT consultants or medical doctors in the clinic.

It would be great to hear from anyone who is using this treatment positive or negative

hope this information is helpful.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9149059/Tinnitus-silenced-by-retuning-brain.html

 

(An article from "Hearing News")

75% of Tinnitus Patients Benefited in Acoustic CR Neuromodulation Trial

Jülich, Germany— A clinical trial led by Professor Peter Tass at Jülich Research Center in Germany reports that a non-invasive technique known as Acoustic CR® Neuromodulation benefited 75% of patients. The results were published in Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience.
Acoustic Coordinated Reset (CR) Neuromodulation provided the trial’s patients with a “significant and clinically relevant decrease” in tinnitus loudness and annoyance within 12 weeks, compared to patients who received a placebo, according to the authors.

Tass suggests that Acoustic CR® Neuromodulation reduces tinnitus loudness by reducing the overactivity of auditory nerve cells within the hearing portion of the brain.
The treatment involves patients wearing headphones that emit a series of tones designed to match the frequency of their individual tinnitus tones. The treatment's emitted tones are designed to interfere and eventually disrupt the patient's rhythmic tinnitus firing patterns in the nerve cells that are believed to be causing the tinnitus.

In the prospective, randomized, single blind, placebo-controlled trial in 63 patients diagnosed with chronic tonal tinnitus and up to 50 dB hearing loss, the placebo treatment did not lead to any significant changes.

However, the effects gained by patients treated with 12 weeks of Acoustic CR persisted through a preplanned 4-week therapy pause and showed sustained long-term effects after 10 months of therapy, according to the researchers. In fact, 75% of patients had some benefit, as measured by a visual analogue scale, tinnitus questionnaire scores, and spontaneous EEG recordings.
A British Tinnitus Association spokesperson commented, “The results of this exploratory first trial are interesting and encouraging. The findings now need to be replicated by an independent research group. A randomized-controlled trial is required to assess whether this new intervention is a viable and effective treatment for tinnitus patients. We look forward to seeing the results of the planned larger scale Phase 2 Trial.”

 

Yes the Trial Starts next week here in the Uk

 

erik -
This article has provided me enough information to try a new test on myself. I need to find that photo of Gene Wilder as Young Frankestein ("schteen") and use that as my avatar again. "It's alive! It's alive".

I few months ago I purchased the NCH Tone Generator. I know that my tinnitus is about 4kHz. I made an MP3 files of 4kHz tone which I listened to for 1-2 hours a day for 6 weeks. I stopped that experiment about 3 weeks ago, and I'm back to using my maskers.

Experiment #2: Using the idea discussed in this article, I've just put two sine waves into the generator: One at 4153 Hz (above my tinnitus) and another at 3918 Hz (below my tinnitus). Have it at low volume. I'll try this an hour today.

In a way this approach seems to make sense - but I will restrain myself from getting too pumped up. I'm up, I'm down...basically running out of options, I'm afraid.

As this article explains very well, most of the experts consider tinnitus to be like phantom limb pain. In the case of tinnitus, instead of having a lost limb, an inner hair cell bundle has been lost. It would seem that the bundles on each side of the damaged bundle should be intact. So, perhaps it makes sense to use frequencies on each side of the target frequency, to "corner the thing".

It's interesting that Jane says "The tinnitus is still there - but it's less shrill...". That isn't necessarily glowing praise, like what I have read about Dichonics, which cost significantly less at $3000. Dichonics claims to actually cancel tinnitus for 75% of the patients that use it. It is my understanding that the canceling effect is not permanent, lasting up to 12 hours. This is the same percentage that Acoustic Neuromodulation claims.

 

Karl
erik
thanks for finding and sharing all this information

im a do-it-yourself-er and have tried many "solutions" from diet and supplements to different kinds of acoustic stimulation

almost 20 years ago i played with a phenomenon called "residual inhibition"...we dont hear as much talk about it these days but as im sure you are familiar with it

then of course notched which its day and may even "hold the field" along with vagus nerve stimulation...dont know have to wait and see latest double blind study results...but

i just never could decide if i should douse myself with tinnitus frequencies...avoid them...or mask them.. suround them.... data was all so contradictory

i am sympathetic to the phantom limb syndrome theory...but i like to ad that tinnitus is in some ways like epilepsy and so my present tactic is to listen to broad band sound ...symphonic music, pink noise, water and wind sounds etc and try otc supplements that are gaba agonists that can cross the blood brain barrier

nothing would make me happier than to see a non chemical solution so im silently rooting for these acoustical remediation....but in my heart i wonder if nothing short of replacing the broken stereo cilia and returning hearing sensation will "cure" the problem

and then there is doing everything i can to "ignore" tinnitus...divert my attention...or as some call it, "doing nothing"

if tinnitus were a creature ...or a being...id take it out back and give it a good thrashing...dont-cha just wish you could ring its neck!


thanks again for the great information
best wishes
mock turtle

 

Karl
Have you tried notching music/white noise at 4KHz? This is where you remove those frequencies instead of listening to them.

I've read a little bit about creating notched music/white noise and would be happy to send you some files. We'd both be experimenting though.

I'd do this myself, but I can't determine my frequencies. I think I'm narrow-band white noise at around 12-13 Khz.

Cheers
DD

 

mt -
I am not afraid of medicines, unless they make me depressed. If there was a chemical/drug that would alleviate this, I would go for it. I like your idea of "gaba supplements", although I don't yet understand what those things are. Last week I took niacin, and I swear I felt a difference.

The most impressive step toward a cure that I've seen are the MEG/MRI scans being done at West Texas A&M. Dichonics, Inc., is an off-spring of that research. Based on that, I've been gerry-rigging my own sound experiments, trying to do something similar to what I've read about Dichonics, Acoustic Neuormodulation and Serenade Soundcure.

DD -
Haven't tried notched music, but I'm aware of it. If I wanted to try it, I know how to create notched music using the NCH Tone Generator and WavePad. There are videos on YouTube showing the steps involved.

Notching avoids the tone, probably making it less significant compared to other spectrum of frequencies. I want to cancel the tinnitus. I'm not into homeopathic medicine, but homeopathy has a saying:"Like cures like".

 

I'm just curious on this one that although it has been available on the market in Germany and the UK now for at least a year or so and with over 3000 people treated (3000 in Germany alone according to the rep i spoke to) I have not seen one review that wasn't in a newspaper. I can only conclude that it is ineffective.

Just wondering why no members here appear to have tried it either. Anybody planning on trying? I would consider going to Germany (the rep suggested an ENT in Cologne who has been working with it from the start) as it is far cheaper than the UK. I however would only consider it on hearing some independent verification. Any thoughts? Am I missing something?

 

Hi

Aside from the positive testimonials on the website of the Tinnitus Clinic in London, it is almost impossible to find an independent positive review of the ANM device.

There have, unfortunately, been numerous negative reviews of this treatment in German tinnitus forums. Many of those that have posted on the German sites are very critical of the inventor, Professor Peter Tass, and of the Julich Institute for the unusual way in which they have allowed this treatment to been distributed and marketed. Essentially, it is being tested on desperate tinnitus sufferers (at great expense). As you may know, a trial of the device is being conducted in Nottingham in the UK at the moment. One can only hope that it produces proper data.

Best Wishes

Cal

 

Hi Cal

Thanks for that. As I don't speak German I wasn't aware of this and in fact it explains the rather defensive response I got when I questioned its efficacy. So where do they get the '75% of sufferers report significant reduction in tinnitus symptoms'?...Anyways I'll turn my attention elsewhere for now..c'mon my fellow Irishmen and the mutebutton!

 

Hello All,
In a couple of weeks I will hopefully be starting to participate in a trial on the Acoustic Neuromodulation device. I have passed the preliminary stages of being accepted into the research trial and will be off to London for a physical check over and hopefully be fitted with the device for a 9 month period....fingers crossed it all goes well....

 

Yes best of luck Philip..i see you have tinnitus for 16 yrs..i really hope it brings you some relief..keep us posted!

 

I didnt realise they were testing this in the UK?

I had an Assessment with the Tinnitus Clinic about 2 months ago (£185). They didnt mention they needed test people.

I was told last week that the results of a bigger study will be published Jan/Feb next year.

I dont think it is cheaper in Germany as I emailed ANM a few weeks ago to ask, the price of the device is about the same but in the UK you pay for 5 or 6 consultations at the same time whereas in Gremany you dont, you pay for the consult as you go. The Tinnitus Clinics 4.5k package is the device and the consultant appointments. Its not feasible to go to Germany I dont think because you have to get it adjusted more often at first - if its working for you that is. You may need to get an adjustment once a week?

I read a huge thread from a German forum (I cant read German either, it went through Google Translate) and there was a lot of negativity. However some people WERE helped by it. One guy had 3 tones to his T and it got rid of 2 of them and reduced the third with this device. One person collated all the info from everyone on that site who had tried it (about 17 people from memory) and I think nearly half of them benefitted. I'll try to find that table and post it here.