tVNS: Pilot Study for Tinnitus

Stimulating the vagus nerve like Microtransponder, the German company Cerbomed developed a transcutaneous device that is approved for drug-resistant epilepsy in Europe. In 2013, Finnish doctors did a pilot study utilizing the device for tinnitus with promising results.

Acta Otolaryngol. 2013 Apr;133(4):378-82. doi: 10.3109/00016489.2012.750736. Epub 2012 Dec 13.
Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation in tinnitus: a pilot study.
Lehtimäki J1, Hyvärinen P, Ylikoski M, Bergholm M, Mäkelä JP, Aarnisalo A, Pirvola U, Mäkitie A, Ylikoski J.
Author information​

• • 1Tinnoff Inc, Helsinki, Finland.

Abstract
CONCLUSIONS:
This pilot study shows that transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS), if combined with sound therapy (ST), reduces the severity of tinnitus and tinnitus-associated distress. Our magnetoencephalography (MEG) results show that auditory cortical activation can be modulated by the application of tVNS. Thus, tVNS might offer a new avenue to treat tinnitus and tinnitus-associated distress.

OBJECTIVES:
Recent studies suggest that tinnitus can be improved by tailored ST or by VNS plus ST. Our aims were to study whether tVNS has therapeutic effects on patients with tinnitus and, additionally, if tVNS has effects on acoustically evoked neuronal activity of the auditory cortex.

METHODS:
The clinical efficacy was studied by a short-term tVNS plus ST trial in 10 patients with tinnitus using disease-specific and general well-being questionnaires. tVNS was delivered to the left tragus. The acute effects of tVNS were evaluated in eight patients in the MEG study in which the N1m response was analyzed in terms of source level amplitude and latency in the presence or absence of tVNS.

RESULTS:
The treatment with tVNS plus ST produced improved mood and decreased tinnitus handicap scores, indicating reduced tinnitus severity. The application of tVNS decreased the amplitude of auditory N1m responses in both hemispheres.

Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23237096​

Here's a link to the company's website.

The device is worn in your ear. Here's a picture of it from the company's website:



Having multiple sources for relief--including medical devices like tVNS--may be necessary for people with chronic tinnitus. And personally, I'd prefer less invasive treatment modalities--like tVNS, rTMS, and tRNS--to other alternatives.

 

If anyone has tried this device please let us know If It worked or not in reducing the volume of tinnitus

 

I have but the device is a bit different. I've posted info about this in the vagus nerve thread here.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...-vagus-nerve-stimulation.31/page-2#post-34432

 

Any idea where you can buy this apparatus...?

 

You probably need a prescription and right now it's not approved of for tinnitus. That said, maybe you should contact the doctors in Helskinki and see if they are going to do another clinical trial or know where one might be held in the future. The best way to get this device tested is to show there's an interest in it for treating tinnitus.

Here's the company's website:

http://www.cerbomed.com/transcutaneous-Vagus-Nerve-Stimulation-80.html

About the Helsinki study, you should contact @Sound Wave. He participated in the study.

 

I did'n participate in the study, but I have tried it. The device is pretty simple in terms of electronics. You should contact Helsinki Ear Institute directly.

 

How and where did you get the device? Or do you still have it? Can you share your experience?

 

I have posted a manual of one of their early device in an eralier thread about tVSN here. I believe they have new ones coming. I have also one modded TENs device with an ear-electrode, which can act like a tVNS device. I have written about that in the TENS thread. These are very simple devices indeed.

I haven't used these a lot. The feeling is tingling in your earlobe with a right amount of current. Use too much and it hurts.

 

Hi, question about this treatment.

Some treatments like this and acoustic neuromodulation require the patient to be able to pinpoint the exact nature and frequency of their tinnitus sound. How much potential do these treatments have for patients with multiple tinnitus sounds, or patients with "erratic" sounds that come and go?

 

My thoughts exactly. I asked this in an earlier thread that was about some kind of sound based treatment. The answer I got was that we probably will have to treat one sound at a time. This would be impossible for me since I have probably over a 100 different sounds that comes and goes.

 

@lapidus @Snake Plissken @Sjoerd @Tom Soria

Using the implantable VNS system as a guide, which is currently being tested for tinnitus in the US, it appears that you are paired with tones that do not match your tinnitus frequency. I'm basing this information on a recent abstract for the Serenity VNS stimulation system for tinnitus:

CONCLUSION:
VNS paired with tones excluding the tinnitus-matched frequency is safe and feasible. It seems to exert a beneficial effect in nonmedication-taking patients, both with regard to the perceived sound and the distress. Further studies are therefore mandated.​

For the full abstract, see below:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23237096​

It's also useful to note that the current clinical trials for the implantable VNS will use several sounds to find which ones are most efficacious. See the link below on this:

For the first six weeks of therapy, this study will try some subjects on the same settings tried previously, and some subjects on somewhat different settings; either way, you will receive tones and stimulation during the daily 2.5 hour therapy period. Although it is thought that one setting might be better, it is unknown which setting is better. After the first 6 weeks, everyone will be tried on similar settings that are thought to be better (more effective).​

For the full reference, see below:

http://www.utdallas.edu/~sxv140030/clinical_trial/
​

Of course, you might also contact people associated with the Helsinki pilot study of the tVNS therapy. Ask them about their specific protocol.

This email address might be useful for such inquiries:

Jukka Ylikoski. jukka.ylikoski@fimnet.fi​

For this information, see below:

http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/00016489.2012.750736
​

 

This probably won't work for, either. My tinnitus is exactly a tone rather than a ringing sensation that can't be accurately replicated with an oscillator.

 

Don't knock it man, this is actually showing some promise. Sometimes the thought that maybe I will have access to treatments like this sometime fairly soon is what gets me through the day. It's going to be alright

 

"In this study, we evaluated the feasibility and safety of tVNS paired with notched music therapy to treat patients with refractory chronic tinnitus. tVNS was applied using a pad-type electrode attached to the auricular concha. This therapeutic approach reduced subjective symptom severity, tinnitus intensity, and tinnitus awareness in some of the patients. tVNS is unlikely to elicit unwanted side effects if patients with cardiac arrhythmia or asthma are excluded before treatment, and if the left auricular concha is selectively stimulated."

http://synapse.koreamed.org/DOIx.php?id=10.7874/jao.2015.19.3.159

 

Is there any other members within us tried it?