32
votes
An FDA-approved device offers a new treatment for tinnitus
Link information
This data is scraped automatically and may be incorrect.
- Title
- Got tinnitus? A device that tickles the tongue helps this musician find relief
- Authors
- Allison Aubrey
- Published
- Apr 15 2024
- Word count
- 1280 words
Since I've seen a fair bit of discussion around tinnitus here, I thought this might be of interest. From the article:
Very cool to see they are getting somewhere with something I previously thought was incurable, but sounds like I'm going to continue living with the ringing for now.
$4k for a brand-new medical device isn't that bad.
Hell, braces are old tech and they'll cost between $3k and $10k.
TBF a lot of the cost of the braces is the labor to install and maintain them, they're not a discreet product you can just sell someone
I honestly don't have much reference, but I was mostly kidding. My tinnitus is relatively mild compared to some people, who live hellishly because of it, so it's great news.
It would be worth finding out if there are additional studies planned. You might be able to get into one and have it pay these costs. My dad was in a trial for his cancer drug for five years, saved thousands in copays.
It's difficult to look at that picture with a pair of headphones and a tongue vibrator and conclude it's worth $4,000. Even considering R&D costs. Hope someone comes into the market and sells it for $100
$4,000 is really not that much for a medical device, and it'll likely only get cheaper over time
I'm so curious why the tongue was so vital to this concept. Is it much more sensitive or linked to a particular part of the brain? Clearly if it would work with any other body part they would have saved themselves the trouble of making the gizmo food-safe.
The Nature article has more information about what was studied, so that might shed some light. It looks like many pathways are possible. I wonder if the tongue was easiest to stimulate because it is already wet/conductive. On an ear, you'd probably have to use a gel or something.
I’ve also heard of tongue-based sight for people with zero sight, where a camera embedded in a pair of glasses they’re wearing is connected to an electronic tongue-pad, and over time the brain readjusts and realises that it can make sense of the patterns and provide (very limited) sight.
I’m wondering if the tongue has more nerves-per-area and therefore higher resolution and sensitivity which makes it particularly suited to this kind of neurological re-wiring stuff?
Since it's a device and not a medication, I wonder how the laws would work around a generic brand machine that did something similar but was a tenth of the price? Would you want something like that in your mouth?
From their website:
It seems like it is relatively harmless, so probably easy to clone? Probably when the patent runs out, like with drugs?
Edit to add The Nature article has more information about the specific modes of stimulation, so from a purely technical point of view, someone could probably build one pretty easily. I don't know if someone who has studied their own illness has enough of the specialized knowledge an audiologist would have to determine settings and evaluate whether it was working or not.
This is the key. Having that FDA stamp ostensibly means that a device has gone through a rigorous evaluation of both safety and evaluation, same as any medication. That process is neither quick nor cheap, which is why it has that price tag attached to it.
Frankly I'd be suspicious if it was cheaper (at least to start). If it's effective market forces will drive the price down eventually.
What that doesn't stop someone from doing is making a cheap replica using a factory in China, and selling it for "non-medical purposes" that is "not intended to treat or cure any medical condition". It's a thin line to walk though.