Researchers from University of Texas at Dallas and spin-off company MicroTransponder Inc. are reporting in Nature a successful treatment of rats with tinnitus by using vagus nerve stimulation. MicroTransponder, a company still in a stealth mode, is working on a stimulator based on a technology called SAINT™ (Subcutaneous Array of Implantable Neural Transponders), a wireless neurostimulator thought to be effective for a range of conditions, such as pain management, stroke rehabilitation, tinnitus, and even anxiety. In the Nature study, investigators played sounds of specific frequency to the animals while vagus nerves were activated, and the team was able to effectively teach the brains of these rats to block out certain sounds altogether.
For the VNS study, the research team used a “gap detection model” to document tinnitus in rats that were exposed to loud noise for one hour while under anesthesia. Each of the noise-exposed rats used in this study exhibited a significant impairment in the ability to detect a quiet gap in a tone near their tinnitus frequency, but exhibited no impairment when the gap was placed in a higher or lower tone.
When the rats were exposed to VNS paired with sounds, the gap impairment was eliminated – indicating that the tinnitus was gone.
Reportedly, human clinical trials are already planned for later this year.
Full story from UT Dallas: Findings Show Promise in Battle Against Tinnitus…
Abstract in Nature: Reversing pathological neural activity using targeted plasticity…
MicroTransponder technology page…