Ultrasound for Peripheral Nerve Modulation

May 1, 2026 updated by: Sheng Xu, Stanford University

Assessment of Wearable Ultrasound for Modulation

This study evaluates an ultrasound device designed to reduce pain by targeting peripheral nerves without surgery or medication. The device is placed on the skin over the area of pain and delivers controlled ultrasound stimulation.

Adults with nerve-related pain will participate in a single study visit that includes stimulation sessions and pain assessments.

The goal of this study is to determine whether non-invasive ultrasound can safely and effectively reduce pain and to assess whether this approach is practical for future clinical use.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

90

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 Contact

Study Locations

  • United States
    • California
      • Stanford, California, United States, 94305
        • Stanford University

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Stated willingness to comply with all study procedures and availability for the duration of the study
  2. Persons aged 18 and older.
  3. In good general health as evidenced by medical history
  4. Chronic pain located in the distribution of any of the target nerves of interest, including the occipital, suprascapular, median, femoral/leg, stellate ganglion/vagus nerves, neuroma, or amputees.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients with compromised skin integrity for whom device placement would result in increased risk of harm (such as those with extensive burns, active dermatologic conditions, or wounds that would prevent safe device placement)
  • Pregnant patients, as the devices have not been validated in this population
  • Additionally, the treating clinician may exclude any patient if they determine that study participation would be inappropriate for the patient's clinical condition.

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: Other
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Sham Comparator: Sham
Participants undergo sham ultrasound stimulation that replicates all procedural aspects of active treatment without delivery of therapeutic acoustic energy.
Device: Sham (No Treatment)
Sham stimulation replicates all procedural aspects of active ultrasound neuromodulation, including device placement and operation, without delivery of therapeutic acoustic energy. This condition serves as a control to account for placebo and procedural effects.
Experimental: Ultrasound modulation
Participants receive ultrasound stimulation at predefined parameters to evaluate neuromodulatory effects on the target peripheral nerve.
Device: Ultrasound
Non-invasive focused ultrasound stimulation is applied to a target peripheral nerve.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Incidence of Device-Related Adverse Events
Time Frame: From treatment to the next day (up to two days)
Assessment of the number and severity of device- and procedure-related adverse events associated with focused ultrasound neuromodulation. Events will be graded according to standard clinical criteria, including pain, skin irritation, thermal effects, or neurologic symptoms.
From treatment to the next day (up to two days)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Numerical Pain Rating Scale
Time Frame: During, immediately after each stimulation block, and one day after the treatment (up to two days)
Participant-reported tolerability assessed using a numerical pain rating scale (e.g., discomfort or pain score during stimulation). The scale ranges from 1 (no pain) through 10 (worst pain).
During, immediately after each stimulation block, and one day after the treatment (up to two days)

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Stanford University

Investigators

  • Study Director: Sheng Xu, PhD, Stanford University

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 (Estimated)

June 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

June 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

June 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 1, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 1, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

May 7, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 7, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 1, 2026

Last Verified

April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • IRB-85697

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Individual participant data (IPD) will not be shared at this stage due to the early feasibility nature of the study and the small sample size, which may increase the risk of participant re-identification. De-identified, aggregated results will be reported in publications and presentations.

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.

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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