New Treatment for Tinnitus Shows Promising Results
A research team for the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) has developed a new technique to treat patients with tinnitus that is also being examined as an approach for patients who suffer from refractory depression. Preliminary data indicates that patients are responding to the novel approach. News about the new approach was reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The new treatment entails surgical excision of parts of the skull. Electrodes are then placed on the cerebral cortex. Tunnels are created under a patient’s skin to support wires from the skull to an electrical generator that is implanted under a patient’s collarbone.
Data shows that electrical stimulation of the brain at the cerebral cortex can reduce the extraneous sounds heard by patients diagnosed with tinnitus. Alternatively, a separate location is associated in decreased depressive symptoms among those patients who have depression. This early data suggests that other brain disorders may respond to direct electrical stimulation of the brain.
Current clinical trials are underway to examine the efficacy of this treatment approach for patients with a variety of conditions, including epilepsy, chronic pain, tinnitus, obsessive compulsive disorder, stroke, and major depression. This approach is philosophically akin to deep brain stimulation, which has gained attention as a treatment approach for refractory depression and Parkinson’s disease.
The advantage of the approach described herein, compared to deep brain stimulation, is direct stimulation of only the outer cortex. The procedure is much less invasive. As such, it reduces the risks such as infection and bleeding. At this point in time, no serious adverse events have been noted in the group of 19 patients who are being treated in this manner at MCW.
December 17, 2007 Related topics: New Technology & Innovation, Psychiatry & Neurology, Otolaryngology