The Use of Transcranial Focused Ultrasound for the Treatment of Neurodegenerative Dementias

March 22, 2023 updated by: Neurological Associates of West Los Angeles
The purpose of this open label study is to evaluate longer term tolerability and early efficacy of transcranial ultrasound in the treatment of patients with mild cognitive impairment or dementia.

Study Overview

Status

Enrolling by invitation

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The present study is designed as an open label study of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia to evaluate longer term tolerability and early efficacy of transcranial ultrasound treatment.

Baseline and outcome measures in this study utilize validated tests that are appropriate for repeated measures which are not affected by practice effects. For patients with amnestic predominant cognitive change, the target will be the mesial temporal lobe through a trans temporal scalp window. Targeting will include reference to scalp fiducials based on the obtained MRI and Transcranial Doppler (TCD) waveform confirmation will be obtained because of the ability of TCD to record Doppler signal from the posterior cerebral artery that runs medial to the mesial temporal lobe.

On the day of the ultrasound appointment, patients will undergo ten to thirty minutes of transcranial ultrasound treatment. The sonification device will be aimed at the hippocampus or the putamen and substantia nigra, depending on the predetermined condition. Targeting will include reference to scalp fiducials based on the obtained MRI; confirmation of target accuracy will either be obtained by Doppler waveform confirmation or optical tracking technology which co-registers patient neuroimaging with real space. Patients will undergo 8 total sessions of focused ultrasound. Patients will be evaluated at baseline and upon final ultrasound treatment using the same measures obtained upon entry. Safety and any adverse events will be monitored closely.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

100

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
    • California
      • Santa Monica, California, United States, 90403
        • Neurological Associates of West LA

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

45 years to 93 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • CDR stage of at least 0.5 (mild cognitive impairment)
  • At least one pathognomic imaging biomarker of a neurodegenerative process.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Cognitive decline clearly related to an acute illness
  • Subjects unable to give informed consent
  • Subjects with scalp rash or open wounds on the scalp (for example from treatment of squamous cell cancer)
  • Advanced terminal illness
  • Advanced kidney, pulmonary, cardiac or liver failure
  • Subjects who would not be able to lay down without excessive movement in a calm environment sufficiently long enough to be able to achieve sleep
  • Subjects with major depressive disorder
  • Subjects with vascular causes of dementia

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
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Treatment
All patients enrolled will receive transcranial focused ultrasound. Target location is dependent on patient condition.
Device: Focused Transcranial Ultrasound
The FDA has determined the power intensity limits that are safe for clinical use; the proposed equipment works within these parameters. Furthermore, monitoring sessions up to one hour as proposed in this study are routinely used in patients even with acute brain injury at 2 megaHertz without any reports of complications induced by the ultrasound device. No brain heating, cavitation or bleeding has been identified with the proposed equipment and protocol. For each individual safety can be followed by performing a selective mental status exam at each session completion (for example for hippocampal targets, there will be a delayed recall memory test).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Quick Dementia Rating Scale
Time Frame: Baseline
The Quick Dementia Rating Scale (QDRS) is an interview-based tool administered by study officials to participants' caregivers used to obtain observations from a consistent source. The QDRS form consists of 10 categorical questions (5 cognitive, 5 functional), each with 5 detailed options depicting the level of impairment as either 0 (normal), 0.5 (mild/inconsistent impairment), 1 (mild/consistent impairment), 2 (moderate impairment), or 3 (severe impairment). Based on the conversion table outlined in Dr. James Galvin's research (2015), total QDRS scores were converted to Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scale levels ranging from 0 (normal aging), 0.5 (mild cognitive impairment), 1 (mild dementia), 2 (moderate dementia), and 3 (severe dementia).
Baseline

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)
Time Frame: Baseline
The MoCA evaluates frontal-executive functions (e.g., verbal abstraction and mental calculation), language (e.g., confrontation naming, phonemic fluency), orientation (e.g., person, place, date, day of the week, and time), visuospatial construction (e.g., simple figure copy), divided visual attention, and immediate and delayed memory of unstructured information. MoCA scores range from 0-30 possible points; 26 or greater is considered to reflect normal cognitive status.
Baseline
Repeatable Battery Assessment for Neuropsychological Status (RBANS)
Time Frame: Baseline
RBANS assesses immediate memory, visuospatial skill, language, attention, and delayed memory. Patient performance on each subscale immediate memory, language, attention, visuospatial, and delayed memory are scored relative to validated norms for same-aged peers. A change of 8+ points in the Total Scale score, 11+ points in the Immediate Memory score, 9+ points in the Language score, 4+ points on the Attention score, 14+ points is considered significant for the Visuospatial score, and 10+ points for the Delayed Memory score are considered significant.
Baseline
Repeatable Battery Assessment for Neuropsychological Status (RBANS)
Time Frame: After final ultrasound (8 weeks from baseline)
RBANS assesses immediate memory, visuospatial skill, language, attention, and delayed memory. Patient performance on each subscale immediate memory, language, attention, visuospatial, and delayed memory are scored relative to validated norms for same-aged peers. A change of 8+ points in the Total Scale score, 11+ points in the Immediate Memory score, 9+ points in the Language score, 4+ points on the Attention score, 14+ points is considered significant for the Visuospatial score, and 10+ points for the Delayed Memory score are considered significant.
After final ultrasound (8 weeks from baseline)
Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)
Time Frame: After final ultrasound (8 weeks from baseline)
The MoCA evaluates frontal-executive functions (e.g., verbal abstraction and mental calculation), language (e.g., confrontation naming, phonemic fluency), orientation (e.g., person, place, date, day of the week, and time), visuospatial construction (e.g., simple figure copy), divided visual attention, and immediate and delayed memory of unstructured information. MoCA scores range from 0-30 possible points; 26 or greater is considered to reflect normal cognitive status.
After final ultrasound (8 weeks from baseline)
Quick Dementia Rating Scale (QDRS)
Time Frame: After final ultrasound (8 weeks from baseline)
The Quick Dementia Rating Scale (QDRS) is an interview-based tool administered by study officials to participants' caregivers used to obtain observations from a consistent source. The QDRS form consists of 10 categorical questions (5 cognitive, 5 functional), each with 5 detailed options depicting the level of impairment as either 0 (normal), 0.5 (mild/inconsistent impairment), 1 (mild/consistent impairment), 2 (moderate impairment), or 3 (severe impairment). Based on the conversion table outlined in Dr. James Galvin's research (2015), total QDRS scores were converted to Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scale levels ranging from 0 (normal aging), 0.5 (mild cognitive impairment), 1 (mild dementia), 2 (moderate dementia), and 3 (severe dementia).
After final ultrasound (8 weeks from baseline)

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Neurological Associates of West Los Angeles

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Sheldon E Jordan, M.D., Neurology Management Associates

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)

November 27, 2017

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

December 1, 2024

Study Completion (Anticipated)

January 1, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 29, 2020

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 29, 2020

First Posted (Actual)

January 31, 2020

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 24, 2023

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 22, 2023

Last Verified

March 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 32222-1

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

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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