Home-based Non-invasive Brain Stimulation and Hand Tracking Rehabilitation for People With Chronic Stroke

May 9, 2019 updated by: University of Minnesota

Home-based tDCS and Hand Tracking Rehabilitation for Chronic Stroke

This is a device feasibility study, which will assess telerehabilitation in people with chronic stroke using a combination of noninvasive brain stimulation and finger tracking training. Telerehabilitation allows patients to train in their own home which also allows for longer training periods than what is currently allowed clinically. Noninvasive transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) uses two surface electrodes connected to a small battery that will be attached to the head. This will be used to modulate neuronal excitability. With sensors attached to fingers and the wrist, the patient will move the joints to track a target displayed on a screen. The combined treatment will be applied in two experiments. The first will be on 3 patients coming to our lab and the second on 3 patients in their home, both under supervision. We will integrate the two components and test the resulting and novel treatment system for technical feasibility, which will set the stage for future efficacy studies under federal grant support. We hypothesize that the developed system will be safe and feasible.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This study will assess the feasibility of a telerehabilitation protocol involving non-invasive brain stimulation. Therefore, the two arms of the study are 1) implementation of this protocol in a controlled laboratory setting and 2) implementation of this protocol in a patient's home, being set up by the patient but controlled remotely using a blue-tooth system by an investigator in a different location. The two arms of this study will occur successively with the first arm being completed with three patients followed by the second arm being completed with a second group of three patients.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

6

Phase

  • 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
    • Minnesota
      • Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, 55455
        • University of Minnesota

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

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • adult at least 18 years old
  • stroke duration >6 months,
  • Mini-Mental State Examination score 24 or higher
  • presence of tactile sensation on the scalp
  • at least 10 degrees of active finger or wrist motion in the stroke hand
  • ability to walk 100 feet and transfer independently

Exclusion Criteria:

  • seizure within past two years
  • pregnancy
  • metal inside the had (dental metal is permitted)
  • implanted medical devices incompatible with tDCS

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: Device Feasibility
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: In-lab tDCS
Three people with chronic stroke will participate in finger tracking training while receiving transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in a controlled laboratory environment with an investigator.
Device: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) uses two surface electrodes placed on the scalp. These electrodes pass a low voltage current and modulate membrane potentials of underlying neurons.
Experimental: In-home tDCS
Three people with chronic stroke will participate in finger tracking training while receiving transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in their own home. Patients will be taught how to use a blue-tooth enabled telerehabilitation module that is being controlled by an investigator in the lab on the University campus. For safety, an investigator will be in the home with each patient during tDCS use and finger tracking training but will only be supervising procedures.
Device: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) uses two surface electrodes placed on the scalp. These electrodes pass a low voltage current and modulate membrane potentials of underlying neurons.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Digit Span
Time Frame: First day of study and one day following the final treatment
Short-term memory test using single numerical digits
First day of study and one day following the final treatment
Box and block
Time Frame: First day of study and one day following the final treatment
Finger dexterity test using both paretic and nonparetic hands
First day of study and one day following the final treatment
Quantification of Compliance Questionnaire
Time Frame: First day of study and one day following the final treatment
First day of study and one day following the final treatment
User perception survey
Time Frame: First day of study and one day following the final treatment
Survey
First day of study and one day following the final treatment

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Survey of symptoms questionnaire
Time Frame: Each day of study as well as one day following the final treatment
Each day of study as well as one day following the final treatment

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Minnesota

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: James Carey, PhD, PT, University of Minnesota

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)

January 1, 2017

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2017

Study Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2017

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 29, 2015

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 29, 2015

First Posted (Estimate)

June 2, 2015

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 13, 2019

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 9, 2019

Last Verified

May 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Home tDCS

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 Stroke

Clinical Trials on Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Bosnia & Herzegovina

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

Subscribe