Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) for Tinnitus

No, but I have emailed someone from the MUMC DBS team about the inclusion criteria quite some time ago. One of the team members said that I could only meet their strict criteria demands if I were to participate in a cognitive treatment at a specialised clinic for psychotherapy in Hoensbroek. Ultimately, I decided to just wait for another treatment that is less invasive than DBS.

 

So all their participants first went through some sort of CBT therapy before entering the trial? So crazy. They already had their criteria listed on the trial webpage.

 

DBS is highly invasive and a last resort solution. It is not uncommon for a healthcare provider to accept you only if all current treatments have been tried. The same for Parkinson's. That is normal escalation protocol.

 

They actually started recruiting as per yesterday and postponed the finishing date by three years. :/ See updated page.

 

My God when will this nightmare end

I honestly think once we know how to objectively measure and visually see tinnitus, that's when things will go a bit faster...

 

Or one of the regen drugs will just fix tinnitus too, if they work in the first place.

 

For those in Great Britain, they are recruiting:

MaST: MEG and Brain Stimulation in Tinnitus (MaST)

 

This isn’t deep brain stimulation.

 

Does anyone have any idea why there is "psychiatric illness" as exclusion criteria in these trials?

 

Just for a clean trial. I suppose GAD for example could affect before and after scores. I don’t think it intends to stigmatise mental health but is aimed at producing the best trial results.

In practical use, when it is commercially available, everyone, including those with mental health issues, will be able to have the treatment.

 

They postponed both France and Maastricht trials by 3 more years. No explanation given whatsoever.

 

Oof. Probably lack of funding with a possibly impending global recession if I were to guess. Every big companies are making cutbacks right now.

 

They blamed mostly COVID-19, plus I think this is public money since the surgeries are done by the researchers working in the public field.

 

It’s weird they didn’t want to do a trial involving surgery into the brain during the pandemic. What a lame excuse!

 

Park this thread for 7 years. The whole brain tech landscape will have changed by then.

Actually you should just delete this thread.

 

Does anyone have any recent news from the DBS trials at Maastricht or Grenoble?

I found this article:

Specific activation of operculum 3 (OP3) brain region during provoked tinnitus-related phantom auditory perceptions in humans

One of the writers is the main researcher in the Grenoble trial. It was written in 2014. Oh, why the research field moves so slow...

Maybe some people can shed more light into this? It seems as if middle ear proprioceptors are highly involved in the tinnitus perception in the somatosensory area of the brain, which communicates to some degree with the auditory cortex.

So which area/areas needs/need to be modulated first? The parts in the auditory pathway (MGN) like in the Maastricht trial, or the trigeminal complex which connects the middle ear with the somatosensory area? Or better yet, both for a full tinnitus dissolution? Actually, the last figure in the article is very relevant for the question.

There is also the autonomous nervous system, highly involved in tinnitus perception and its awareness.

 

Does anyone know how DBS differs from tDCS? They both involve electrical stimulation to the brain.

 

This is Deep Brain Stimulation:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_brain_stimulation

They actually insert electrodes deep into specific thalamic nuclei, that are affected by a specific neurological condition.

Live Surgery: Deep Brain Stimulation - Ryder...

tDCS is a non invasive neuromodulation method that involves an anode and cathode placed on the skull, it transmits electrical activity on the neocortex:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcranial_direct-current_stimulation

They are not the same in any way, DBS is invasive brain surgery, tDCS is just placing electrodes in a cap on your head (similar to EEG).

 

@ARN, thanks for this. So tDCS is the ongoing clinical trial in Nottingham University I was looking at. I'm interested in the findings as it's not far off from completing.

 

I feel that DBS is the only thing that might help my severe tinnitus. I cannot wait 10 years for it to be available for tinnitus. Does anyone know if I can have this procedure anywhere, apart from the clinical trials?

 

No idea honestly, the trial(s) are ongoing but I don't see an opportunity for it yet honestly.

Currently they are investigating the best target's i.e. the MGB of the thalamus and the best stimulation pattern i.e. HFS.

If everything goes well, we'd see it in I guess about 10 years or so as treatment for tinnitus.

 

A Protocol to Investigate Deep Brain Stimulation for Refractory Tinnitus: From Rat Model to the Set-Up of a Human Pilot Study

A meta-analysis of animal to human trials. Previous trial results in animals and humans show stimulation of DCN resolved tinnitus in all participants. Stimulation of IC did too.

Click on green table to see figures.

https://www.mdpi.com/2039-4349/13/1/5

 

I had DBS surgery approximately 6 years ago as part of a clinical study being conducted by the VA to study if soldiers suffering tinnitus from their service could benefit.

It didn't work for me and in some ways I feel it made my tinnitus worse. I really tried to find the settings that would help lessen the tinnitus, but I gave up and had the probes and generator removed 9 months later.

Afterwards, the tinnitus became so unbearable that I had to quit my job as an engineer and eventually retire; I could no longer concentrate.

I was told that others in the study found some reprieve from their tinnitus, but I was willing to toss the dice and see if it would help me and further science, health care to arrest this horrible affliction.

Still hoping some good can come from it, but time will tell.

 

Where did they stimulate?

 

Can't remember the area of the brain the the probes reached, I just remember seeing the post surgery MRI that showed them deep in my brain, probably mid-eye level.

 

Can someone explain the difference between "primary completion date" and "study completion date"?

 

Probably they did it in the wrong spot, or with a wrong kind of stimulation pattern.

Theoretically, DBS should work, the only exception is if it targets a wrong area.

 

I am a dual French-American citizen, they have a trial going on for DBS which I have applied for.

I'm not sure how effective it is, as it would need to work because a plane ride would result in a possible permanent spike at this point.

It will be my last resort.

 

@BrysonKingMe, I have ultimate respect. I hope you get accepted.