In the form of a wrist-worn device, there may be new hope for those suffering from Tourette’s Syndrome. In testing this technique, the majority of participants experienced a reduction in tic severity of at least 25%.
Tourette syndrome causes disruptive, involuntary physical and verbal tics that usually occur multiple times a day.
Three years ago, scientists from the University of Nottingham, UK, published their findings that rhythmic electrical stimulation of the median nerve in the wrist significantly reduced the frequency and intensity of tics. More specifically, sessions of pulsed neurostimulation produced patterns of rhythmic brain activity associated with tic inhibition.
A U Nottingham spin-off, Neurotherapetics Ltd, has incorporated the therapy into its app-controlled wearable device, Neupulse. Recently, he was the subject of a double-blind clinical trial involving 121 Tourette patients across the UK.
Half of those people were given a working Neupulse and the other half were given a fake device. Both groups were instructed to keep the wearable active five days a week, at the same time each day, and he for 15 minutes per session. They did so for four weeks.
We found that 59% of test subjects who used the real device reported a reduction in tic severity that was at least 25% higher than that reported by the control group. In some individual cases, reductions have reached as high as 35%. It is expected that these numbers will increase as the technology develops further.
“The results of this trial represent an exciting step towards an effective, non-invasive treatment for Tourette’s syndrome that can be used at home,” said chief scientist and CEO of Neurotherapeutics. said Dr. Barbara Morella-Mikes. “We are now focused on using the knowledge gained from the trial to develop a commercial device that can be used by people with Tourette Syndrome.”
The plan calls for the product to be on the market by 2026. A paper on this study was recently published in a journal. MedRxive.
Source: University of Nottingham, Neurotherapuetics Ltd
