Effects of Transcranial Pulse Stimulation in Parkinson's Disease

August 6, 2026 updated by: Felipe Fregni, MD, PhD, MPH, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital

Parkinson's Disease: Overall Symptoms Improvement With Transcranial Pulse Stimulation (TPS)

The investigators are studying if Transcranial Pulse Stimulation (TPS) can improve various symptoms, including movement problems, thinking abilities, mood, fatigue, freezing while walking, voice quality, and issues with smell and taste. Previous research suggests TPS might help in Alzheimer's disease and could be helpful for Parkinson's as well. Investigators will check if TPS is safe, practical, and if it makes a noticeable difference in these symptoms compared to before the treatment.

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.
14

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

  • United States
    • Massachusetts
      • Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, 02138
        • Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital

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. Diagnosis of "probable" or "possible" Parkinson's Disease (PD), as defined by the current clinical criteria (52) or as confirmed by a co-investigator neurologist or confirmation via medical records or a letter from a patient's physician.
  2. Age from 40 to 90 years old.
  3. Disease stages 2 to 4 based on the UPDRS scale subdomain V (or Hoehn and Yahr scale).
  4. Taking stable medications for Parkinson's Disease for at least 30 days.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Features suggestive of other causes of parkinsonism/Parkinson's-plus syndromes.
  2. History of deep brain stimulation, brain ablation surgeries, or malignant mass brain lesions.
  3. History of schizophrenia, bipolar illness, or alcohol/drug abuse within the past six months.
  4. Need for rapid clinical response due to conditions such as initiation, psychosis, or suicidality.
  5. Contraindications to transcranial brain stimulation (i.e., metal objects in the head, metal implanted brain medical devices, cortisone treatments within six weeks before the first stimulation session, central nervous system (CNS) thrombosis, etc).
  6. Unstable medical conditions (e.g., uncontrolled diabetes, uncompensated cardiac issues, heart failure, uncompensated pulmonary disease, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease).
  7. Contraindications to MRI according to Mass General Brigham screening in the Martinos Center (i.e., pacemaker, defibrillator or wires other than sternal wires, metallic foreign body in the eye, or drug infusion devices - if the models of these devices are not compatible with MRI).
  8. Pregnancy.
  9. Epilepsy or disorders that significantly increase the likelihood of seizures, including: (i) severe traumatic brain injury; (ii) congenital birth defects leading to seizures; (iii) brain tumor; (iv) metabolic disorders associated with seizures; (v) intracranial or subarachnoid hemorrhage; and (vi) non-lacunar strokes.
  10. Bed- or wheelchair-bound patients.

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: TPS
Device: Transcranial Pulse Stimulation (TPS)
Transcranial Pulse Stimulation (TPS) is a non invasive brain stimulation technology that applies repetitive single high-pressure ultrashort shockwave pulses within the ultrasound frequency range to stimulate the brain. Subjects will receive 12 TPS sessions conducted three times weekly, for about 40 to 50 minutes/day, over four consecutive weeks.

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
Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS)
Time Frame: Baseline and 4 weeks, immediately post-intervention (Visit 12).
Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) evaluates the motor function, non-motor symptoms (mentation, behavior, and mood), activities of daily living, and complications of therapy. Each item has 0-4 ratings: 0 (normal), 1 (slight), 2 (mild), 3 (moderate), and 4 (severe). The total UPDRS score is obtained by summing Parts I-IV, with a total score ranging from 0 to 199. Lower scores indicate less severe Parkinson's disease and represent a better outcome; higher scores indicate greater disease severity and represent a worse outcome. The outcome measure represents the change from Baseline to 4 weeks, immediately post-intervention (Visit 12).
Baseline and 4 weeks, immediately post-intervention (Visit 12).

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.
Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital

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.
December 31, 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.
June 27, 2025

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.
July 30, 2025

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).
November 4, 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.
November 4, 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.
November 6, 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 10, 2026

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 6, 2026

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.
August 1, 2026

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.
  • 2024P002627

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

Yes

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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