Sounds promising. I wonder what a procedure like this would cost?

Wow! Amazing for him that his tinnitus is gone. His was pretty bad. I emailed him to learn more about it and will post whatever I find out!

There is more about this on the Internet, this procedure was done in 2007 I think. I don't know how may surgeries have been done.

I read a few months ago that the company that made the batteries that operated this implant went out of business and the guy in question had to have them removed and his Tinnitus returned .. the batteries need changing every so often .. < not sure how long between changes > but maybe every 6 months .. !!
i know it sounds un-believable but it's true, ...

Below is a post taken from another forum .. i know the guy who wrote this post and he is 100 % genuine .. Micky ..

Roy 43 #22
Posts: 762
(02/01/11 3:25 AM)
ReplyQuoteMore
My Recent Posts Given the fact that some members are calling the Sampson Parsons case "Snake Oil" and an "Urban Myth" and has the battery situation any foundation, I have decided but reluctantly to post part of an email I was sent from Sampson Parson personally. I would also like to remind everyone this man went to hell and back.

Here is part of his email so his story can be verified 100% :
Hello Roy,

I apologize - this is a long email, but it is a long story.

Last April, I had my very successful implant removed entirely. The manufacturer of the implant, and financial source of the clinical study (Northstar Neurosciences) went bankrupt. The implant I had was still in an experimental class, so its maintenance was not covered by medical insurance. The maintenance needed was a new battery about once every 8 months. Even if patients like me who experienced relief could have afforded the battery replacement surgeries, there were simply no more batteries. They were unique, proprietary batteries, not a standard medical size that could be purchased from any supplier. So, I had to have the device removed last April. When I woke up from the surgery, the tinnitus had returned with a vengeance. I was immediately very depressed.

Stay in touch,
Sampson Parsons
Regards
Roy

OMG!

I really,really hope that this procedure works but to be thrown off course because of the battery?? Don't know what to think.

Amazing

Very sad! I do believe I have read that others (I think in Europe) are working on this process since it was successful, trying to replicate and refine it.

I was told that there was a person in my support group that had this procedure done. I never actually met her. Supposedly a group of doctors put some electrodes deep inside her brain and the brains of a few other test subjects. All of the test subject experienced continual relief except for her. After the test was over she lost touch with everyone and no one knows what became of her or the other test subjects.

I'm willing to try many things but I'm not sure if I'd let someone cut into my brain.

This is from 2007

Northstar Neuroscien : Northstar Neuroscience Announces Initial Feasibility Data on the Use of its Renova(TM) Cortical Stimulation System to Treat Tinnitus
04/30/2007 | 08:00 am

Northstar Neuroscience, Inc. (NASDAQ: NSTR), a developer of medical devices for the treatment of neurological diseases and disorders, today announced promising initial data from an eight patient investigational device feasibility study (SAHALE) of cortical stimulation to treat tinnitus. The study's principal investigators, Brian Kopell, M.D. of the Medical College of Wisconsin's Department of Neurosurgery and David Friedland, M.D., Ph.D. of the Medical College of Wisconsin's Department of Otolaryngology, found that investigational cortical stimulation of the auditory cortex for the suppression of tinnitus is feasible and appears to be safe. These findings were presented by Dr. Friedland this past weekend at the annual meeting of the American Neurotology Society in San Diego.

?In this initial feasibility study, we have established that cortical stimulation appears to be safe and affect tinnitus symptoms on a long-term basis,? says Dr. Kopell. ?Ongoing investigation may allow us to further improve patient selection and efficacy of the therapy.?

"The results are promising and show improvements in alleviating tinnitus symptoms," said Alan Levy, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Northstar Neuroscience. "Many patients with tinnitus have become frustrated by the lack of treatment options and are often told there is nothing that can be done. Cortical stimulation may offer additional hope for those suffering from severe tinnitus and we look forward to future research to expand these findings."

The SAHALE study completed patient enrollment in November 2006. Eight patients with severe tinnitus were included in the study; the average duration of tinnitus symptoms was 16 years and average severity rating was 79 on a scale of zero to 100. All patients were implanted with Northstar's investigational Renova-TT? Cortical Stimulation System designed to deliver low levels of electric stimulation to the outer layer of the brain just over the auditory cortex. Patients initially received active or sham stimulation (crossover design) and were regularly asked to rate the loudness and severity of their tinnitus symptoms as well as the perceived effectiveness of the cortical stimulation therapy; after the crossover phase, all patients received active stimulation. Patients' quality of life was also assessed periodically using the Tinnitus Reaction Questionnaire (TRQ), Tinnitus Handicap Questionnaire (THQ) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI).

All patients showed improvement in the TRQ and THQ quality of life measures by the end of 12 weeks, and all but one patient showed improvement in the BDI measure. Two patients had sustained reduction of pure tone tinnitus and six patients had short periods of total tinnitus suppression. Two of the patients in the study suffered from moderate to severe depression; both improved to mild or minimal depression following cortical stimulation. No surgical complications or significant changes in hearing threshold were observed.

?These preliminary results are encouraging, as patients showed notable improvements on the Tinnitus Reaction Questionnaire, the Tinnitus Handicap Questionnaire, and the Beck Depression Inventory during cortical stimulation," stated Dr. Friedland. "Most subjects experienced episodes of total tinnitus suppression at some point during the study despite having had constant tinnitus for years." Added Dr. Kopell, "Further studies will investigate different stimulation regimen, identification of characteristics to predict a positive outcome, and better understanding of the long-term effects of stimulation on tinnitus symptoms."

This is from 2009

"Northstar Neuroscience is toast. The Seattle-based medical device company, which failed to develop an electrical stimulation machine that would enable stroke patients to regain arm movement, said today its board has decided to shut down the company and liquidate its assets.

The company (NASDAQ: NSTR) will lay off most of its remaining employees as it goes through the steps of an orderly wind down, and stock delisting, Northstar said today in a statement. The plan, which will involve paying off remaining liabilities like its lease and clinical trial obligations, as well as distributing cash to shareholders, must be approved by shareholders at a special meeting. Northstar said it had 38 employees left at the end of July, when it made its last round of layoffs.

Northstar has been under pressure to close its doors from one of its largest shareholders, Boston-based RA Capital. Peter Kolchinsky, the firms managing member, wrote an angry letter to the company last month urging it to close its doors and fork over its remaining cash to shareholders. The companys stock crashed 80 percent a year ago when it failed in a trial of its device to help stroke patients regain arm movement. Instead of liquidating, Northstar tried to regroup by cutting costs and switching its priority to using the device to treat severe depression.

Wall Street essentially gave that zero chance of success. Even though Northstar had $70.2 million in cash and investments at the end of September, investors gave the company a stock market valuation of under $27 million in early December. Thats when RA Capital started screaming to shut the company down, and spread the cash among shareholders, while it still had some left.

Northstar was founded in 1999 as Vertis Neuroscience, and the original goal was to develop electrical stimulation for chronic back pain. That product was eventually divested. In the end, the company ended up accumulating a deficit of more than $132 million through the end of September, according to its most recent quarterly report with the Securities & Exchange Commission."

It seems like many attempted tinnitus treatments are actually last ditch efforts to save a failing test product. It's too bad this got shut down. It may have eventually led to something much better.

Hello everybody.

I have just joined this forum.

I am known as Roy43. I am responsible for posting about Sampson Parsons which Micky10 copied from another Tinnitus forum.

I would like also to say that both myself and Micky10 have been in touch for quite along time. He is a good guy.

All that said I have to say that a "cure" has been found by Dr De Ridder, possibly the same surgery that Sampson Parsons had carried out. I would like to say that my heart does go out to Sampson, it was an awful thing to happen.

Here is a link to Dr De Ridder's site
http://www.brai2n.net/
Here is another link to a radio program, which you may find interesting as Dr De ridder is speaking towards the end and also one of his patients that has had the procedure carried out, successfully. When you click on the link below scroll down and click again on "Tinnitus Cure mp3"
http://lets-beat-tinnitus.co.uk/blog/tinnitus-cure-radio/

I do urge you to listen to all of the program.

My best wishes to everyone
Roy
UK Warrior

Thanks Roy. That's a great recording.

Roy43 'cure' is a very strong word. No offence but if there was a cure for T at this point in time then im sure the whole world would know about it. The site look interresting but i noticed a lack of cited papers on any of the procedures Dr De Ridder is talking about using. The whole thing looks more like a research project than anything else.

Im not saying that the treatments have never worked for anyone but curing someone and finding the 'cure' are to different things. The section on the 'origin of tinnitus' was interresting but to suggest that small lesion in the insulating layer around the nerve is the cause of everyones T is a bit unbelievable. There is a very important rule in medical research "Correlation does not imply causation" .