Temporal Interference Brain Stimulation for Adults With Drug-Resistant Epilepsy Undergoing Stereo-EEG Monitoring

August 10, 2026 updated by: Duke University

Temporally Interfering Electric Field Stimulation in the Treatment of Epilepsy - Effect of Temporal Interference on Biomarkers of Epilepsy

This study evaluates whether a non-invasive brain stimulation technique called Temporal Interference (TI) can reduce epilepsy-related abnormal brain activity and influence sleep-related brain rhythms in adults with focal drug-resistant epilepsy undergoing stereo-EEG monitoring for clinical care. Up to 30 participants will complete stimulation sessions during wakefulness and, when possible, natural non-REM sleep. Brain activity will be recorded using scalp EEG and implanted sEEG electrodes before, during, and after TI stimulation. Some participants may also receive subthreshold direct stimulation through implanted electrodes for comparison. The study aims to determine whether TI can reduce epilepsy biomarkers, alter sleep-related brain activity, and compare favorably with conventional direct electrical stimulation while remaining within established safety limits.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Not yet 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.

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.
30

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

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:

  • Adult patients with focal DRE who will undergo presurgical evaluation with sEEG
  • Availability of at least one sEEG electrode inserted into the thalamus for clinical purposes
  • sEEG performed with the indication to identify one single epileptic focus
  • Ability to provide written informed consent and comply with the study protocol

Exclusion Criteria:

- Remote resective/ablative brain surgery

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: Triple

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: Temporal Interference Stimulation to Epileptic Focus
Temporal Interference stimulation delivered through scalp electrodes targeting the epileptic focus during wakefulness and/or natural NREM sleep.
Device: Temporal Interference Stimulation
Non-invasive electrical stimulation delivered through scalp electrodes using paired sinusoidal currents with differential carrier frequencies to create a low-frequency envelope targeting deep brain structures including the epileptic focus or thalamus.
Experimental: Temporal Interference Stimulation to Thalamus
Temporal Interference stimulation delivered through scalp electrodes targeting the thalamus during wakefulness and/or natural NREM sleep.
Device: Temporal Interference Stimulation
Non-invasive electrical stimulation delivered through scalp electrodes using paired sinusoidal currents with differential carrier frequencies to create a low-frequency envelope targeting deep brain structures including the epileptic focus or thalamus.
Active Comparator: Direct Electrical Stimulation
Subthreshold direct electrical stimulation delivered through implanted sEEG contacts.
Device: Direct Electrical Stimulation
Subthreshold biphasic electrical stimulation delivered through implanted stereo-EEG contacts, remaining below thresholds for after-discharges and perceptual sensations.

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
Interictal epileptiform discharge rate
Time Frame: 20-minute baseline, 20-minute stimulation, 20-minute post-stimulation
The interictal epileptiform discharge (IED) rate per minute is a classical biomarker of epilepsy. It is derived from sEEG macro- and microcontacts.
20-minute baseline, 20-minute stimulation, 20-minute post-stimulation
Single-unit firing rate
Time Frame: 20-minute baseline, 20-minute stimulation, 20-minute post-stimulation
single unit firing rate is the number of action potentials ("spikes") that an isolated neuron emits per second. It is derived from sEEG microcontacts.
20-minute baseline, 20-minute stimulation, 20-minute post-stimulation

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
High-frequency oscillations
Time Frame: 20-minute baseline, 20-minute stimulation, 20-minute post-stimulation
The high-frequency oscillation rate per minute (frequency >80 Hz) is an alternative biomarker of epilepsy. it is derived from sEEG macro- and microcontacts.
20-minute baseline, 20-minute stimulation, 20-minute post-stimulation
local field potential spectral power
Time Frame: 20-minute baseline, 20-minute stimulation, 20-minute post-stimulation
The power of local field potentials in defined frequency bands (theta: 4-8 Hz, beta: 13-30 Hz, gamma: 30-100 Hz) will be measured from macro- and microcontacts.
20-minute baseline, 20-minute stimulation, 20-minute post-stimulation
Sleep microstructure
Time Frame: 20-minute baseline, 20-minute stimulation, 20-minute post-stimulation
Sleep microstructure is comprised of sleep spindles (sleep specific transients of 10-16 Hz exceeding 0.5 seconds) and slow oscillations (delta wave transients < 0.5 Hz) measured in scalp EEG and sEEG macrocontacts. Rates are provided per minute
20-minute baseline, 20-minute stimulation, 20-minute post-stimulation

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.
Duke University

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 Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

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: Birgit Frauscher, Duke University

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 (Estimated)

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.
August 15, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

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 14, 2031

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.
August 14, 2031

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 10, 2026

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 10, 2026

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 14, 2026

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 14, 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 10, 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

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.
  • PRO00119776
  • 1R56NS148323-01 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

Annotated preprocessed datasets and final research data will be shared.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

IPD will be shared upon their initial online publication or 1-year following the end of the project.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Data Archive for the BRAIN Initiative (DABI)

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • ANALYTIC_CODE
  • CSR

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.

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