Researchers at the University of Michigan recently published results in Science Translation Medicine on a unique tinnitus treatment device aimed at resetting nerve activity in the brain to quell the phantom sounds of tinnitus. The paper reports encouraging results from the first animal tests and a small clinical trial with 20 tinnitus patients. Study details can be read here. A concise news report can be found at: https://labblog.uofmhealth.org/lab-report/first-test-specially-timed-signals-ease-tinnitus-symptoms.
The team of researchers, led by Susan Shore, Ph.D., at the Kresge Hearing Research Institute – a part of the Department of Otolaryngology at Michigan Medicine – built on research that had its origins in a 2011 ATA grant for “Somatosensory Influence on Physiological and Behavioral Correlates of Tinnitus – Towards an Effective Technique for Alleviating Tinnitus.”
The current experimental device, which is not commercially available, is aimed at a particular type of tinnitus sufferer: those who can temporarily alter their tinnitus symptoms by clenching their jaws, extending their tongues, or turning or flexing their necks. The next round of research, which is being funded by the NIH, is expected to begin late summer.
Recruitment for the clinical trial is expected to begin early 2018. Information will be available on Clinicaltrials.gov six months prior to the start of the trial. For more information on the trial, email: tinn.trial@umich.edu.
