DUBLIN, IRELAND — New research from Irish medical device company, Neuromod Devices Ltd, has found that more than three quarters of people suffering from tinnitus in the United Kingdom have never received any treatment for their condition. The poll also revealed that 67% of UK tinnitus sufferers don’t feel adequately informed about their condition.
This news comes as Neuromod Devices has launched its tinnitus treatment device, Lenire® in the UK, where it is estimated that seven million people suffer from tinnitus – commonly referred to as ‘ringing in the ears’.
The research, which polled 251 people with tinnitus across the UK, found that 76.1% of respondents have never used any form of tinnitus treatment. It also revealed that 67.7% of those polled don’t feel adequately informed about tinnitus. This translated as 12.7% of respondents who didn’t feel informed at all about their condition; 22.3% feeling somewhat uninformed and 31.5% who were unsure about how informed they were about their tinnitus.
The poll also asked respondents about their awareness of treatment options open to tinnitus patients and found that 28.3% of respondents didn’t feel informed at all about their options and a further 30.3 said they were ‘somewhat uninformed’.
“Our poll shows that there is a clear gulf in knowledge of tinnitus treatments in those suffering from this debilitating condition. This may stem from the fact that so many people with tinnitus never seek any form of treatment for it. Recent research has told us that tinnitus is a symptom of long-COVID and we now know that the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on people who have tinnitus. In addition, a recent study led by Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, found that 46% of tinnitus sufferers in the UK reported a worsening of their tinnitus during the COVID-19 pandemic1. With Lenire, our goal is to improve the quality of life of those suffering from tinnitus and this is what motivates us to bring this treatment to as many people as we can. The results of large-scale clinical trials, involving more than 500 participants, are very positive, as are the real-world outcomes for our patients in Europe so this is a very exciting time for the company.”
–Dr. Ross O’Neill, CEO of Neuromod Devices
Dr Ross O’Neill, CEO of Neuromod Devices Ltd. O’Neill announced a major expansion of the medtech’s tinnitus treatment device, Lenire into the United Kingdom. Lenire is available to people with tinnitus in UK through The Tinnitus Clinic or via Neuromod’s tinnitus telemedicine service. (Photo: Julien Behal)
The Lenire tinnitus treatment device is available to people with tinnitus through The Tinnitus Clinic‘s network of seven locations across the UK or online via the company’s Neuromod Medical tinnitus telemedicine service.
The Tinnitus Clinic’s audiologists will provide Lenire to patients, as well as devising and monitoring their tinnitus treatment plans using the device. The Tinnitus Clinic is the leading provider of the latest evidence-based tinnitus treatments in the UK, with clinics in London, Bristol, Leeds, Leicester, Manchester, Newcastle, and Stirling.
Neuromod specializes in non-invasive neuromodulation technologies and has developed Lenire, the first non-invasive bimodal neuromodulation tinnitus device which has been clinically proven in large-scale clinical trials to soothe tinnitus symptoms.
Tinnitus affects between 10 and 15% of the global population and the British Tinnitus Association estimates that more than seven million people suffer from this condition in the UK alone2.
“I am absolutely delighted to launch Lenire in the United Kingdom and to begin treating tinnitus patients with the device. Interest in Lenire from the UK has been strong, so in order to best serve those with tinnitus in the UK, it is important to provide patients with the best treatment option for them, whether that’s an in-clinic assessment or one they can do online via telemedicine. This is why working with The Tinnitus Clinic is a great fit for us. The Tinnitus Clinic and Neuromod share the goal of providing evidence-based and clinically proven treatments to those afflicted by tinnitus. I look forward to working with their accomplished team”.
“We are delighted to be partnering with Neuromod to introduce Lenire to the UK. It is a novel, but evidence-based treatment which we are pleased to be providing alongside the suite of treatments which are currently available from the service.”
—Mark Williams, Chief Audiologist for the Tinnitus Clinic
Patients in the United Kingdom can also opt to have tinnitus assessments online via Neuromod’s telemedicine service, which launched earlier this year and has had over 1,000 people use the service to date. The service is delivered through Neuromod Medical, a centre of excellence for tinnitus care, based at the Hermitage Medical Clinic in Dublin, Ireland, and aims to provide patients with quick access to tinnitus care, without waiting lists.
With this service patients can get assessed, fitted for the Lenire device and complete follow up appointments with their healthcare professional via a video call from the comfort of their own homes, using a mobile device or home computer.
Neuromod has been advancing the commercialisation of Lenire across Europe having opened its German office in Forchheim, Bavaria last year. Since then, the company has made Lenire available to patients in Germany by taking on 57 partners who make the device and its treatment plan available in 96 clinics throughout Germany. Neuromod also has three partner clinics in Austria.
The company, which raised €10.5 million in an oversubscribed Series B financing round late last year, has been scaling manufacturing of the Lenire device to meet demand in Europe. This funding has also seen the employee numbers at the company grow by more than 50% in six months. which is being used to expand European commercialization and scale-up manufacturing of the Lenire device to meet demand.
Lenire is prescribed and fitted under the supervision of a qualified healthcare professional who specializes in the field of tinnitus treatment such as audiologists and Consultant Otolaryngologists or ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat) surgeons.
The device has been used in large-scale clinical trials, the most recent of which, involving 326 participants, delivered dramatic improvements in patients’ tinnitus symptoms3. 86.2% of treatment-compliant participants reported an improvement in their tinnitus symptoms after a 12-week treatment period. When followed up 12 months post treatment, 80.1% of these participants had sustained the improvements. This study represents one of the largest and longest followed-up clinical trial ever conducted in the tinnitus field.4
References:
- Beukes et al., DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2020.592878
- British Tinnitus Association – https://www.tinnitus.org.uk/blog/more-people-living-with-tinnitus-than-previously-thought
- As measured by Tinnitus Handicap Inventory score
- Conlon et al., Sci. Transl. Med. 12, eabb2830 (2020)
About Neuromod Devices Limited
Founded in 2010, Neuromod Devices Ltd is a medical technology company headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Neuromod specialises in the design and development of neuromodulation technologies to address the clinical needs of underserved patient populations who live with chronic and debilitating conditions. The lead application of Neuromod’s technology is in the field of tinnitus, where Neuromod has completed extensive clinical trials to confirm the efficacy of its non-invasive neuromodulation platform in this common disorder. Neuromod’s tinnitus treatment device, Lenire is currently available in Ireland and throughout Europe. For more information visit www.neuromoddevices.com.
About Lenire
Lenire is the first non-invasive bimodal neuromodulation tinnitus treatment device shown to soothe and relieve tinnitus in a large-scale clinical trial. Lenire has CE-mark certification for the treatment of tinnitus under the supervision of an appropriately qualified healthcare professional in Europe. Further details on Lenire including a list of providers can be found at www.lenire.com.
Source: Neuromod
