Norway gets tinnitus treatment boost from Neuromod Devices

Norway's largest private provider of hearing and tinnitus care, has agreed to distribute Neuromod Devices' Lenire tinnitus treatment device in the country.

Lenire is a bimodal neuromodulation device proven in clinical tests to assist in lowering tinnitus symptoms. Tinnitus, popularly called "ringing in the ears," is a complicated neurological disorder leading patients to hear rackets without an apparent origin. About 10-15 percent of grown-ups worldwide and around six hundred and fifty thousand Norwegians suffer from it.

In late 2021, a milestone investigation on tinnitus prevalence in Europe was published in The Lancet. It discovered that tinnitus incidence significantly increased with age and hearing loss severity. It also established that the use of healthcare aids for tinnitus rises with greater tinnitus manifestation harshness.

HØR has teamed up with Neuromod to offer Lenire for the treatment of tinnitus to patients in their chain of private clinics throughout Norway under this agreement. UllevÃ¥l Stadion is HØR's flagship clinic, while Aleris Frogner offers an in-house facility. The organization is adding two more clinics in Vestfold and Trondheim over the next few months.

“I'm happy to be able to make Lenire available to tinnitus patients in Norway,” said Dr. Ross O'Neill, founder and CEO of Neuromod Devices. “Tinnitus is a serious healthcare problem, but by collaborating with medical specialists at HØR, we can enhance patient results for individuals coping with the situation.”

The collaboration is coming on the heels of the introduction of Lenire in Spain in early 2022, and the publication of autonomous real-world analysis showing that the device improves tinnitus symptoms, a collaboration was announced.

According to a new study, Lenire helped tinnitus patients improve their tinnitus symptoms, as gauged by the THI score, after six to twelve weeks of cure. The results were lately publicized in the Brain Stimulation journal.

The technology has also been tested in a wide range of clinical tests with over five hundred patients. The first of these clinical trials, involving three hundred and twenty-six participants, was the cover story of Science Translational Medicine's publicized October 2020 issue describing how tinnitus symptoms improved for 86.2 percent of treatment-compliant participants after a twelve-week therapy period as gauged by THI.

Participants were asked about the benefits of treatment at 12 months and 80.1% had maintained their gains. This study is one of the most comprehensive and long-term clinical tests ever done on tinnitus technology.

“I'm excited to work with Lenire and offer a proof-based therapy alternative that has demonstrated favorable patient results in broad clinical tests and in real life,” said Janne Hallset Mykkelbost, CEO of HØR.

Lenire uses sound stimulus and gentle electrical pulses to promote neuroplasticity in the brain, reducing tinnitus symptoms. It has received a CE-mark certificate for tinnitus cure under the surveillance of a suitably trained healthcare expert in Europe.

The system comprises a wireless Bluetooth headset that delivers tailored sound triggers to the aural nerve, an intra-oral device known as a Tonguetip that applies benign electrical stimulation to the surface of the tongue, and a controller that adjusts the treatment intensity and duration.

After the first examination of the patient's disorder, which includes an audiological test, the device's sound and electrical stimuli may be adjusted to match their tinnitus. 

The overseeing healthcare practitioner explains how the equipment functions before handing it over to the patient for use. Eventually, patients typically spend one hour each day using Lenire for a minimum of 10 weeks.