Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation in Back Pain- Pilot Sudy (BPS)

November 16, 2018 updated by: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Effect of Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation in Chronic Low Back Pain: A Pilot Study

Chronic pain is a severe disabling problem within society, affecting 25-30% of the United States population.. Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) has the potential to provide a treatment option that is safe, scientifically-supported, low-cost, and easy-to-administer method to effectively reduce symptoms in patients suffering from chronic pain. The purpose of this study is to test the feasibility of using tACS to treat patients with chronic pain, and to collect pilot efficacy as well as EEG and EKG biomarker data for optimizing the design of subsequent large-scale studies. The treatment rationale is to renormalize the presumed pathological structure of alpha oscillations in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of patients with chronic pain.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
21

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • North Carolina
      • Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States, 27514
        • University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Male or female, aged 18-65
  • Diagnosed with nonspecific chronic low back pain by clinician
  • BMI is less than 30
  • Suffered from chronic pain for > 6 months
  • Self-report pain measures >4
  • Meets criteria for low depression and suicide risk as defined by the Hamilton-Depression Rating Scale
  • Capacity to understand all relevant risks and potential benefits of the study (informed consent)
  • Not currently taking opioids, benzodiazepines, and anticonvulsant medications

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Radicular Pain
  • Traumatic brain injury, Any brain devices/implants, including cochlear implants and aneurysm clips
  • History of major neurological or psychiatric illness, including epilepsy
  • (For females) Pregnancy or breast feeding
  • Diagnosis of eating disorder (current or within the past 6 months), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (lifetime), or Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (currently under treatment)

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Basic Science
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Sham Comparator: Sham tACS
Sham Stimulation mimics the physical effects of stimulation, with up to one minute of stimulation during the session. Sham stimulation is delivered using the XCSITE100 Stimulator Sham.
Device: XCSITE100 Stimulator Sham
The participant will receive up to one minute of tACS stimulation until the stimulation fades. Sham stimulation mimics the skin sensations a participant would experience during a tACS session
Other Names:
  • Sham tACS
Active Comparator: Active 10 Hz tACS
Participants will receive 2mA of alternating current stimulation at a frequency of 10Hz for 40 minutes. tACS stimulation is delivered using the XCSITE100 Stimulator tACS.
Device: XCSITE100 Stimulator tACS
Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) is a method of noninvasive brain stimulation in which weak electrical current are applied to the scalp in a sine wave pattern to induce cortical oscillations at the frequency at which they are applied
Other Names:
  • tACS

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Heart Rate Variability Before and After 40-minute Stimulation
Time Frame: before and after 40-minute stimulation at each session
Changes in parasympathetic tone, increase in high frequency band input via spectral analysis on EKG recordings between active and sham stimulation
before and after 40-minute stimulation at each session
Change in Electroencephalogram Power in Alpha Band Before and After 40-minute Stimulation
Time Frame: 5 minute recordings before and after each 40-minute stimulation at each session.
Changes in the EEG power in the alpha (8-12 Hz) band before and after 40-minute stimulation
5 minute recordings before and after each 40-minute stimulation at each session.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Pain Rating on the Visual Analog Scale Before and After 40-minute Stimulation
Time Frame: before and after 40 minute stimulation session
Self reported pain rating using a Visual Analog Scale (VAS) ranging from 0-10 done before and after stimulation with '0' being no pain and '10' as bad as it could be. Lower values represent a better outcome. (Pain difference was normalized using modulation index to account for ordinal scale)
before and after 40 minute stimulation session

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Karen McCulloch, PhD, DPT, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
September 7, 2017

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
December 31, 2017

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
January 10, 2018

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
August 3, 2017

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
August 3, 2017

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
August 8, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
December 12, 2018

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
November 16, 2018

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
January 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 17-0870
  • R01MH101547 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

IPD Plan Description

No Plan

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

Yes

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Chronic Low Back Pain

Clinical Trials on XCSITE100 Stimulator Sham

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

Cookie Settings

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. For more details carefully read our Privacy and Cookies Policy. ...>>>You can change your preferences or withdraw your consent at any time by deleting the cookies from your website or computer as described in the policy. Please accept it and choose your preferences by ticking the corresponding boxes in the "Manage Settings" section below. Please carefully read our Terms of Service before you proceed with using any part of this website.
«Manage Settings