MicroTransponder: Latest News and Research

Do you know the name of the clinic? Thanx!

 

http://www.psychiatrycentre.co.uk/r...ion-rtms-clinic/tinnitus-treatment-with-rtms/

Based in London and I think it's £2,000 a week.

 

Thanks, @Paulmanlike! My idea is to show this to my GP here in Norway.
So far he has been very dismissive about this. No surprise there.

 

Has anyone heard anymore on these guys or been involved in the trials?

http://www.microtransponder.com/en-gb/tinnitus/physicians/how-it-works

 

An article released today. I think it is from the team of Microtransponder - University of Texas (Vanneste, Kilgard...):

Pairing sound with vagus nerve stimulation modulates cortical synchrony and phase coherence in tinnitus: An exploratory retrospective study

Abstract


Recent research has shown that vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) paired with tones or with rehabilitative training can help patients to achieve reductions in tinnitus perception or to expedite motor rehabilitation after suffering an ischemic stroke. The rationale behind this treatment is that VNS paired with experience can drive neural plasticity in a controlled and therapeutic direction. Since previous studies observed that gamma activity in the auditory cortex is correlated with tinnitus loudness, we assessed resting-state source-localized EEG before and after one to three months of VNS-tone pairing in chronic tinnitus patients. VNS-tone pairing reduced gamma band activity in left auditory cortex. VNS-tone pairing also reduced the phase coherence between the auditory cortex and areas associated with tinnitus distress, including the cingulate cortex. These results support the hypothesis that VNS-tone pairing can direct therapeutic neural plasticity. Targeted plasticity therapy might also be adapted to treat other conditions characterized by hypersynchronous neural activity.

Full text : https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-17750-y

 

There are ways to stimulate the Vagus nerve naturally through breathing. I just ordered some books on it and also some books on getting more oxygen into the body. I think you are better off trying to make your body as healthy as possible instead of relying on these devises.

If you stimulate the Vagus nerve naturally you would be taking in more oxygen. Oxygen is needed for the brain to be healthy and to heal itself. When the people in this study have the Vagus nerve stimulated by an electric impulse it is absent of deep breathing. So they are not increasing the amount of oxygen going into the brain. They might be on the right track but missing the key ingredient of oxygen.

There isn't a way for someone to make a lot of money off oxygen if you can increase the amount you are getting yourself. That's why you need to take responsibility for your own health.

 

In wich university did you learn that ?

 

http://www.microtransponder.com/en-gb/tinnitus/physicians/how-it-works

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01962558?term=U44DC010084&rank=1

Didn't the Vagus Nerve stimulator "Serenity System" listed above succeed in Clinical Trials and just waiting for the FDA's final approval.

When do we expect this to be on the market?

 

It's true and not in a folk science "use these crystals to balance your aura" kind of way.

My family doctor talked to me about it. Basically it's just breathing exercises.

 

http://www.microtransponder.com/en-gb/tinnitus/physicians/clinical-experiences

56% have a 20% or greater improvement. Plus they need to wrap it around a major nerve. Would be surprised if they sell many. I certainly won't be a customer.

 

Articles released today, but nothing really new.
https://www.brainstimjrnl.com/article/S1935-861X(18)30777-0/fulltext
https://www.brainstimjrnl.com/article/S1935-861X(18)30742-3/fulltext

 

'Both vagus and trigeminal nerve stimulation seem to be able to suppress tinnitus, however show a different long-term effect. These results offer concrete evidence that cranial nerve stimulation paired with tones can direct therapeutic neural plasticity.'

Whilst it's highly invasive surgically, Microtransponder's research lends a little more weight to the prospects of neuromodulation as a potentially effective treatment for tinnitus.

As with Neuromod, Susan Shore and University of Minnesota, stimulation of certain nerves paired with tones, definitely impacts on tinnitus and neural plasticity to varying degrees in some individuals. Not sure if timings are as crucial in Microtransponder's method however. More reasons to be hopeful!

 

I wonder if these www.microtransponder.com guys have quit the game on the basis of Neuromod etc helping us without cutting us open and implanting a box in our chest cavity?

http://www.microtransponder.com/en-gb/tinnitus/physicians/how-it-works

Any contact with them @Markku??

 

Vagus nerve stimulation paired with tones for tinnitus suppression: Effects on voice and hearing

Objective: In individuals with chronic tinnitus, our interest was to determine whether daily low-level electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve paired with tones (paired-VNSt) for tinnitus suppression had any adverse effects on motor-speech production and physiological acoustics of sustained vowels. Similarly, we were also interested in evaluating for changes in pure-tone thresholds, word-recognition performance, and minimum-masking levels. Both voice and hearing functions were measured repeatedly over a period of 1 year.

Study design: Longitudinal with repeated-measures.

Methods: Digitized samples of sustained frontal, midline, and back vowels (/e/, /o/, /ah/) were analyzed with computer software to quantify the degree of jitter, shimmer, and harmonic-to-noise ratio contained in these waveforms. Pure-tone thresholds, monosyllabic word-recognition performance, and MMLs were also evaluated for VNS alterations. Linear-regression analysis was the benchmark statistic used to document change over time in voice and hearing status from a baseline condition.

Results: Most of the regression functions for the vocal samples and audiometric variables had slope values that were not significantly different from zero. Four of the nine vocal functions showed a significant improvement over time, whereas three of the pure tone regression functions at 2-4 kHz showed some degree of decline; all changes observed were for the left ear, all were at adjacent frequencies, and all were ipsilateral to the side of VNS. However, mean pure-tone threshold changes did not exceed 4.29 dB from baseline and therefore, would not be considered clinically significant. In some individuals, larger threshold shifts were observed. No significant regression/slope effects were observed for word-recognition or MMLs.

Conclusion: Quantitative voice analysis and assessment of audiometric variables showed minimal if any evidence of adverse effects using paired-VNSt over a treatment period of 1 year. Therefore, we conclude that paired-VNSt is a safe tool for tinnitus abatement in humans without significant side effects.

Level of evidence: Level IV.

KEYWORDS epilepsy, hearing-threshold levels, linear-regression analysis, tinnitus, vagus-nerve stimulation, voice

 

Safe? Great, but does it help? That's the question.

 

Seriously, they used all this time just to tell us that? Sad.

 

Is anyone still interested in this treatment?

 

I'm thinking about it, but it depends on the efficacy of the new VNS device, which is apparently in development. A few weeks ago, I wrote Dr. Kilgard of University of Dallas (and consultant of partner company MicroTransponder) about the current developments. This is what he wrote to me a few weeks ago:
_________________________________________________________________________________

Our current experimental therapy reduces tinnitus severity by about half of people who receive the therapy. We are hoping to do better and are actively working to optimize the therapy.

Unfortunately, it will take at least a year before the new and improved VNS therapy could be approved.

You can track our progress by signing up for our newsletter at https://www.utdallas.edu/txbdc/newsletter/

Best wishes,

Dr. Kilgard

 

@Christiaan Can you explain how this works exactly? Is it implanting a device into the neck and if so, what's the detail for this surgery? Does it put wires into the spinal core? In other words, how will it stimulate the vagus nerve? Directly putting some wires into it or near it? I feel this could have major complications if there's infection or inflammation happening near the spine.

Additionally, it says the electrical signals are timed with sounds played through headphones. How long will doing this last? Are we supposed to use the headphones for a few minutes and the tinnitus suppression effect will last for what duration? Do we need to do this everyday?

 

The VNS device works basically like this: you have a headset, a wireless transmitter for the computer and an electronic ''pacemaker-ish'' implant in the chest, attached to the vagus nerve (see picture). First, you need to put on headphones and press a computer key to start the therapy. Each time a sound is played, the wireless transmitter sends a signal to the implant, which stimulates the vagus nerve. VNS causes the release of neurochemicals in the brain. Pairing sounds with VNS helps decrease brain hyperactivity over time (e.g. VNS stimulation helps release neurochemicals in the brain, which might boost neuroplasticity and address the hyperactivity of neurons).

I've read from a previous research trial that the use of VNS is restricted to one session (2.5 hours) a day for a year (Kochilas et al, 2020). But other research trials used other restrictions, like @Archer mentioned. So it is not all written in stone when it comes to the exact use of VNS. Anyway, During the session, you're allowed to do other things, like reading a book, surfing on the internet, etc.

Link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/lio2.364

 

It’s done by implanting a small device into your left chest with a wire running from the device to a lead placed around your vagus nerve on the left side of your neck. Patients administer therapy sessions ranging anywhere from 30 minutes to 1:15, and can do multiple sessions in a day. Sessions consist of using a laptop with a transmitter and headphones. Patients listen to various tones, and while the tones are played a small stimulus is delivered to the nerve. In a nutshell.

 

I was a participant. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

 

Did you see any improvements?

 

What was your experience with this treatment? How does it feel to have the implant in your chest? Does the implant need a battery? And most importantly, did it help your tinnitus? If so, to what degree? Thanks.

 

Sorry for the late reply, busy week.

My experience has been nothing but positive and I’ve had great success with the treatment. You can feel the stimulus when it hits, but it’s not uncomfortable in any way. During therapy I will usually read, watch TV with the CC on, or play a game with the sound off to keep myself occupied.

I noticed major improvement around the six month mark after beginning treatment. My tinnitus is mostly in the 4 kHz ranges with significant hearing loss. What noticed first was a change in the tone itself. Where it would usually pulsate it became more of a constant. After that it dropped off. I can’t remember the exact date or anything, but I remember one day thinking to myself, “I’m sitting alone in a quiet room and I barely hear it,” where before I wouldn’t be caught dead in a silent room. For lack of a better way to put it, it was a complete 180. The tinnitus never fully went away, but it definitely dropped to a level where it wasn’t bothersome at all and a lot of the time I wouldn’t even notice it unless I was trying to search for it, for whatever stupid reason.

My tinnitus is noise induced, and was a constant for a number of years before treatment.

Having the implant in my chest hasn’t been bothersome or a hindrance at all. I’ve been able to workout, work, and do everything I could normally before I had the device. Recovery from the surgery took a few weeks, but no different I’m sure than any other surgery. All outpatient. It’s about the size of a small deck of cards. Battery will die someday, but hopefully not in the near future.

As far as I know, the study I was a part of is over, but I’m still doing treatment.

 

Glad to hear that it helped you and thank you for taking the time to enlighten us @Archer. It is really fascinating what the mechanisms behind VNS are and what it does against tinnitus. It is really something that I would consider myself. Could you perhaps answer some of my questions in regards of VNS?

I have read that VNS is more effective for tinnitus with a tonal quality. But do you think that it might help for hissing? Have you also tried to stop with the treatment to see if the changes are permanent? And if so, did it work?

 

Have you noticed any side effects affecting thinking, focus, vision, hearing, etc.? Are there any potential dangerous side effects? Wishing you continued improvement and success!

Thank you,
Teresa

 

I would also love a follow up @Archer.

 

What happened with this device? Truly interesting!

 

Anyone know what happened to @Archer? Suspicious...