BreEStim and tDCS for Neuropathic Pain Management - Healthy Subjects

April 2, 2021 updated by: Sheng Li, The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston

Combined Peripheral (BreEStim) and Central Electrical Stimulation (tDCS) for Neuropathic Pain Management

This study looks at the effect of combined breathing-controlled electrical stimulation (BreEStim) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on neuropathic pain after spinal cord injury, amputation, or brain injury. The hypothesis is that a single session of combined BreEStim and tDCS will produce an additive analgesic effect. This record covers the study in a population of healthy volunteers. Note that this study will also enroll spinal cord injury patients, brain injury patients, and amputation patients and that this study as applied to these other populations will be covered in separate ClinicalTrials.gov records.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

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

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 to 75 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • between 18 and 75 years
  • male and female subjects
  • healthy subjects (i.e., no recent injuries or pain)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • recent injuries or pain
  • have a pacemaker, or other metal and/or implanted devices
  • have amputation in their arm(s)
  • have spinal cord injury (SCI) involving impairment of arms
  • have cognitive impairment from brain injury or are not able to follow commands, or to give consent
  • have asthma or other pulmonary disease
  • are not medically stable
  • have preexisting psychiatric disorders
  • alcohol or drug abuse
  • have a history of seizures/Epilepsy, or taking benzodiazepines, anticonvulsants, and antidepressants.
  • Mini-mental state examination (MMSE), a brief 30-point questionnaire test that is commonly used in the literature, will be used to screen for cognitive impairment. A brain injury patient with a score of 24 or lower on MMSE will be excluded.

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: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Sham tDCS and BreEStim
This arm includes a 20-min sham tDCS to the current dominant primary motor cortex (M1), followed by a 20-min BreEStim to the median nerve (160 times) transcutaneously on the current dominant side.
Device: BreEStim
BreEStim will applied for 10 to 20 minutes.
Device: tDCS sham
Experimental: active tDCS (M1) and BreEStim
This arm includes a 20-min active tDCS to the current dominant primary motor cortex (M1), followed by a 20-min BreEStim to the median nerve (160 times) transcutaneously on the current dominant side.
Device: BreEStim
BreEStim will applied for 10 to 20 minutes.
Device: tDCS active
tDCS will be applied for 20 minutes.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Electrical Pain Threshold (EPT)
Time Frame: baseline, 10 minutes after tDCS, 10 minutes after BreEstim
Electrical Pain Threshold (EPT) is a type of quantitative sensory test that assesses the lowest electrical current that first evokes a sensation of pricking pain.
baseline, 10 minutes after tDCS, 10 minutes after BreEstim
Electrical Sensation Threshold (EST)
Time Frame: baseline, 10 minutes after tDCS, 10 minutes after BreEstim
Electrical Detection Threshold (EDT) is a type of Quantitative sensory test that assesses the lowest electrical current that first evokes an electrical sensation.
baseline, 10 minutes after tDCS, 10 minutes after BreEstim

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Sheng Li, MD, PhD, The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston

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)

April 6, 2016

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 26, 2016

Study Completion (Actual)

May 26, 2016

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 1, 2017

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 1, 2017

First Posted (Actual)

October 5, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 27, 2021

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 2, 2021

Last Verified

April 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • HSC-MS-14-0564 Healthy

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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