Transcranial Electrical Stimulation Targeting the Cerebellum for the Treatment of Refractory Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

August 16, 2024 updated by: Xijing Hospital

A Study on the Efficacy and Mechanism of Targeted Cerebellar Transcranial Electrical Stimulation for the Treatment of Refractory Temporal Lobe Epilepsy: A Single-center, Observational Study.

Study the therapeutic effect and potential neural mechanisms of transcranial electrical stimulation targeting the cerebellum for the treatment of refractory temporal lobe epilepsy through MRI and EEG.

Study Overview

Status

Status

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

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.

Detailed Description

This study is a single-center, observational study.This study applies transcranial alternating current stimulation to the cerebellum of patients with refractory temporal lobe epilepsy.For the recruited patients with refractory TLE (Temporal Lobe Epilepsy), they will undergo a 6-week treatment with tACS (transcranial alternating current stimulation) protocol (2mA, 10Hz, 20 minutes per side), following a schedule of treatment for 5 days - rest for 2 days - treatment for another 5 days, and then a reinforcement treatment once a week, completing a total of 14 treatments.Before treatment, at week 10, and at week 14, the frequency of epileptic seizures and the QOLIE-31 questionnaire scores will be recorded and assessed for the patients. EEG data and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) brain functional imaging data will be collected before treatment and after two consecutive weeks of treatment. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data will be acquired before treatment, after two consecutive weeks of treatment, and after six weeks of intensified treatment. Appropriate image processing methods and EEG processing methods will be utilized to analyze the changes in brain networks following tACS treatment, in order to explore the impact of tACS on the neural mechanisms of refractory temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE).

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 (Estimated)

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.
60

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 Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Locations

  • China
    • Shannxi
      • Xi'an, Shannxi, China
        • Recruiting
        • Xijing Hospital of Air Force Military Medical University
        • Contact:

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Age between 18 and 65 years old;
  2. Diagnosed with refractory temporal lobe epilepsy as defined by the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) (failure to achieve seizure-free status after adequate trials of two appropriate antiepileptic drugs);
  3. Duration of epilepsy is at least 2 years, with a seizure frequency of at least 2 times per 4 weeks in the three months before enrollment;
  4. Taking two or more antiepileptic drugs, and continuing the same medication treatment plan during the trial period;
  5. Capable of cooperating to complete the treatment and related examination items;
  6. The patient and family members fully understand and voluntarily sign the informed consent form.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Scalp skin damage (including skin diseases or damage in the area where electrodes are applied);
  2. Psychogenic epilepsy or pseudo-epilepsy;
  3. Concurrent severe infections, cerebrovascular diseases, malignant tumors, or other diseases with severe dysfunction of major organs such as the heart, liver, and kidneys, or with mental disorders;
  4. Presence of any implanted devices or instruments (such as cardiac pacemakers, deep brain stimulators, cochlear implants, and vagus nerve stimulators, etc.);
  5. History of head trauma or other brain-related diseases;
  6. Pregnant or breastfeeding women;
  7. Participation in other clinical trials at the same time;
  8. Changes in medication treatment plan during baseline, treatment, or follow-up period;
  9. Withdrawal of informed consent by the patient or family members.

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: Treatment
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

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.
Experimental: Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation Intervention
Patients with refractory TLE recruited for the study will undergo a 6-week treatment with the tACS (transcranial alternating current stimulation) protocol, which involves a 2mA current at 10Hz for 20 minutes on both sides. The treatment schedule is 5 days of treatment followed by 2 days of rest, and then another 5 days of treatment, with a weekly reinforcement treatment, for a total of 14 sessions.
Device: Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation
Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation

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
Compared to baseline, the reduction rate of epileptic seizure frequency
Time Frame: baseline, 10 weeks,14 weeks after treatment
((post-treatment - baseline) / baseline).
baseline, 10 weeks,14 weeks after treatment

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
Quality of Life in Epilepsy-31 (QOLIE-31) Questionnaire
Time Frame: baseline, 10 weeks,14 weeks after treatment
The scoring method for the QOLIE-31 Questionnaire involves several key steps, as follows:1.Initial Score Calculation： the raw scores for each item on the scale can be converted to a range of 0 to 100；2.Weighted Scoring：the transformed scores are multiplied by their respective weights；3.Total Score Calculation:all the weighted scores are added together to obtain the total score. Total Score=(Emotional Symptoms Score×25+Psychological Function Score×25+Social Function Score×20+Life Domains Score×17+Additional Items Score×13)/5 In the QOLIE-31 scoring system, a higher score indicates a better quality of life for individuals with epilepsy.
baseline, 10 weeks,14 weeks after treatment
MRI measures
Time Frame: baseline，2weeks，14weeks after treatment
This study primarily applied resting-state blood oxygen level dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD) and magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) techniques to evaluate the changes in functional connectivity of the cerebellum in healthy subjects and patients before and after two weeks of transcranial electrical stimulation (TES) treatment, as well as the changes in the cerebellar cortical white matter fiber bundles two months after treatment. ALFF and ReHo analyses can reveal the characteristics of local neural activity in the brain during the resting state, and abnormal brain regions can serve as regions of interest (ROIs) for subsequent functional connectivity analysis. Additionally, the flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) can be measured to reflect the functional state of the glymphatic system, which can be used to assess the therapeutic effects and the impact on lymphatic drainage function.
baseline，2weeks，14weeks after treatment
electroencephalogram(EEG)
Time Frame: baseline，2weeks after treatment
The changes in EEG will constitute secondary research outcomes. EEG can evaluate the changes in brain functional connectivity in patients before and after transcranial electrical stimulation (TES) treatment. In addition, the alterations in the power spectrum of each frequency band, including delta, alpha, beta, theta, low gamma, and high gamma, will also be measured before and after TES treatment.
baseline，2weeks after treatment
Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) Brain Functional Imaging
Time Frame: baseline，2weeks after treatment
Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) Brain Functional Imaging can assess the changes in brain function of patients before and after transcranial electrical stimulation (TES) treatment.Changes in brain functional connectivity as measured by near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) imaging before and after transcranial electrical stimulation treatment.
baseline，2weeks after treatment

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.
Xijing Hospital

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.
  • Study Chair: Jiang Wen, Xijing Hospital of Air Force Military Medical University

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.
June 8, 2024

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.
August 11, 2024

Study Completion (Estimated)

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.
December 31, 2024

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 1, 2024

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 16, 2024

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 19, 2024

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.
August 19, 2024

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.
August 16, 2024

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.
April 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

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.
  • KY20232387

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

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.

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