Brai3n Tinnitus Clinic

Hello Everyone,

Someone I met on a Facebook group mentioned the company Brai3n to me. Apparently, they've had very good results with tinnitus and I decided to email them. Please see the email below when I asked them to give me a bit more information on what they do.

https://www.brai3n.com/



Does anyone know anything about this company. What do you guys think? Does the Susan Shore device still look more promising?

Thanks,
Daniel

 

Seems like it's De Ridder and Vanneste related if one looks at their webpage. Weren't they involved in Brai2n?

Anyway I also have emailed them since after reading Sven Vanneste's paper from March about "Thalamocortical dysrhythmia detected by machine learning" and it seems to be worth a shot. In regards to the other treatments they give I am unsure of their efficacy.

 

@drivera2592 I recently was on the phone with Jan Ost, one of the staff members of Brai3n. The clinic is not far from where I live.

The treatment is rather expensive and I think the 40% stated in the email is a bit optimistic, they offer the same treatment in the UZ Hospital where I was today and they said success rate is about 1/3rd, after 6 sessions of neuromodulation, with varying degrees of relief, many of them temporary so the treatment should be repeated after a while to maybe get more permanent results.

 

Did anyone try and benefit from the treatment at the Brai3n centre? @Bart did you try it?

 

I called the Brai3n institute, it seems to be serious. Nobody has tried it?

For hyperacusis and TTTS they invented a membrane to put on the tympanum during a period of time to relax muscles. For tinnitus, they have a treatment based on 3 things.

 

A few members in here have interacted with Brai3n... if you use the forum search you may be able to find some relevant posts.

 

Couple of days ago I've sent them my QEEG brain map done in Poland for evaluation, this was instead of going to Belgium for QEEG alone. Cost of evaluation is 250 EUR, based on that they qualify for treatment or not. I need to wait around a month for them to evaluate it, they qualify around 40% of patients for the treatment which costs 1000 EUR. Treatment consists of 2-3 x 20min sessions a week for 3-4 weeks and is based on different types of neuromodulations.

 

Might as well wait for Neuromod and the peer reviewed papers to determine the chances of it helping tinnitus - the guy Sven Vannaste from Brai2n is on the advisory board at Neuromod.

 

As far as I know they only use rTMS, no? And what are the chances of this working in the long run? Just curious.

 

I searched for user experiences on Dutch websites but got very few hits.

I found this article of 2 people who tried it and had good results but unfortunately only temporary so they had to go back.

https://tinnitusonderzoek.atavist.com/tinnitus-wordt-niet-behandeld-op-medisch-gebied-in-nederland

 

Here are my results of QEEG analysis performed by Brai3n:

"In comparison with the normative population, the qEEG shows an increased Gamma activity at the auditory cortex. This activity can be correlated to the tinnitus sound. At the precuneus / posterior cingulate cortex the Beta activity is increased, which can mean that consious perception of the tinnitus has increased. Beta and Gamma are decreased at the left prefrontal area which can correlate with high stress levels.

The individual functional connectivity analysis shows an active Theta network at the left prefrontal cortex, this correlates with the above mentioned Beta and Gamma reduction. Beta2 shows a functional hub at the right insula which correlates with the high anxiety level in the HADS questionnaire. Gamma1 and 2 show an active network with a prominent functional hub at the auditory cortex (right) connected tot he right insula and the right prefrontal cortex.

The spectra shows a curve at the lower side of the standard deviation with a decreased Beta-power.

Conclusion:

Based on the imaging, without seeing the patient, I would expect a random tinnitus which is accentuated by a high stress level."​

They want to treat me giving 40% success rate, does it make sense in your opinion?

 

@Mentos
Nice scientific data, but what are they gonna do about it, it's as if you didn't already know you have tinnitus that is giving you a high stress level.

And the 40 percent success level, is it temporary, that's the most important question.
Did you ask about this?

 

With 40% it is rather permanent improvement Jan Ost claimed, also he said that at times they have patients fully cured but this is very rare, like 3-4 cases a year. It's not that expensive, 80 EUR per session so 8-10 sessions should be around 800 EUR total. The biggest issue for me is to travel from Poland to Belgium and the long duration of the treatment (4-5 weeks). I would like to hear some testimonies of other patients before I decide to pursue it.

 

Is there any clinical study that describes and supports these numbers?

 

Well I found a thread of a Dutch forum and there is a member whose tinnitus got worse after trying, it's the only thread were Brai3n is mentioned, don't want to scare you just let you know what I read. I add the link for you, it's in Dutch. He says he had two treatments with Neuromodulation by Dr Ost but quit because his tinnitus got worse and tells people to watch out.
https://forum.nvvs.nl/forum/tinnitus/viewtopic.php?t=8343

 

As I stated before two people said they had had success, also in Dutch.

 

Thanks for the warning. I'll keep the information in mind.

 

I haven't seen any. It's just what they claim.

 

@Mentos, please keep us updated, maybe something for me to try as well in the future.

 

Most probably I will give it a try but not sooner than in May or maybe even in July because I have no time now to travel to Belgium for 4-5 weeks.

 

They just provided me with their publications:
http://www.utdallas.edu/~sxv140030/publications.html

 

Digital (or Q) EEG as well as TMS (trans-cranial magnetic stimulation) have been pushed for a variety of chronic psychiatric and non-psychiatric disorders. While it is not likely that this would be useful for all, it is quite possible that it is useful for none.

There is a lot of 'snake oil' around and people selling it.

As I have said before, without a clear understanding of the pathology of tinnitus, effective treatments are unlikely.

 

@Dr. Jay Hobbs says (q)EEG can measure tinnitus and is useful under the right set of circumstances. More here:

Can EEG Measure Tinnitus? [CR Neuromodulation]...

 

Thanks for your input, I see you are a psychiatrist.
Do you happen to have experience with rTMS on patients with tinnitus,depression or anxiety problems and if yes what are findings and thoughts about this?
It seems to be effective for some but the results are mostly temporary, is this correct?

 

Are we not closer to this now? Is the theory of overactive neurons in the DCN not agreed upon? Otherwise what the hell are these American universities and our little Neuromod friends over in the Emerald Isle wasting their time for?......And frankly Dr why am I still alive and burning in this noisy hell day and night?

 

As you rightly point out, it is a 'theory'. No actual pathology has been reliably demonstrated.

 

TMS had a big fanfare when it was introduced and as it was typically offered as a private (ie. you paid for it), there was lot of hype and exaggerated claims. After 15 years of so, the results turn out to be much less convincing and often transient.

 

Great. Shit. We need help so bad. People are topping themselves left right and centre because of ‘feeling sad’ and we have to try and live with this shit. I’m sure you as a psychiatrist understand how royally fucked we are. Thanks for taking an interest.

 

Agreed. I saw a shrink who charged me £300 for a consultation where we talked about a load of shit unrelated to my actual problem of screaming ears. He wanted to give me rTMS at £200 a session. He also wanted to start me on low dose Olanzapine. To which my response was why if the rTMS is going to get rid of the tinnitus? Oh it will help you just ‘enjoy life a bit more’ was his response. I got the fuck out of there after that.

 

Thanks for your view on this matter, I try to understand why in Europe more and more rTMS is being promoted and given seen the lack of actual proof of its efficacy...