High-Intensity Focused Electromagnetic Therapy on Patients With Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome

June 2, 2026 updated by: Saher Lotfy El Gayar, Middle East University

Effect of High-Intensity Focused Electromagnetic Therapy on Pain and Quality of Life in Patients With Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Evaluate the effect of High-Intensity Focused Electromagnetic Therapy on pain, quadriceps strength, and quality of life in patients with patellofemoral pain syndrome

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Patients diagnosed with patellofemoral pain syndrome will be recruited from outpatient physical therapy clinics. Following a comprehensive clinical screening, eligible participants will be randomly assigned into two parallel groups:

The Study Group: Will receive true High-Intensity Focused Electromagnetic Therapy sessions plus a traditional physiotherapy program for 8 weeks.

The Control Group: Will receive sham High-Intensity Focused Electromagnetic Therapy sessions plus the same traditional physiotherapy program for 8 weeks.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

60

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 Contact Backup

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

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Clinical diagnosis of patellofemoral pain syndrome (anterior or peripatellar knee pain aggravated by at least two activities such as stair climbing, prolonged sitting, squatting, or running).
  • Symptoms persisting for at least 3 months.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • History of previous knee surgery or trauma (e.g., ligamentous laxity, meniscal tear, or patellar fracture).
  • Concomitant knee pathology (e.g., tibiofemoral osteoarthritis, patellar tendinopathy, or plica syndrome).
  • Presence of metallic implants, pacemakers, or electrical medical devices in the body .
  • Recent corticosteroid or hyaluronic acid injection into the affected knee within the last 3 months.
  • Pregnancy.

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: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Sham Comparator: Control group
Other: Traditional Physiotherapy
Standard rehabilitation program including patellar mobilization with quadriceps and hip abductor strengthening.
Device: Sham High-Intensity Focused Electromagnetic Therapy
The device protocol, application time, and acoustic feedback will the same as the experimental arm, but with the device in the off state and no muscular contractions in the quadriceps muscle .
Active Comparator: Study group
Device: True High-Intensity Focused Electromagnetic Therapy
20-30 minute sessions, 2-3 times per week for 8 weeks at a clinically effective, tolerable intensity level designed to elicit supramaximal contractions for the quadriceps muscle.
Other: Traditional Physiotherapy
Standard rehabilitation program including patellar mobilization with quadriceps and hip abductor strengthening.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Pain level
Time Frame: Baseline and after 8 weeks
Visual Analog Scale will be used to assess pain
Baseline and after 8 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Quadriceps muscle strength
Time Frame: Baseline and after 8 weeks
Isokinetic dynamometry will be used for assessing quadriceps muscle strength
Baseline and after 8 weeks
Health-related quality of life
Time Frame: Baseline and after 8 weeks
Short Form-12 Health Survey (SF-12) will be used to assess QoL
Baseline and after 8 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Middle East 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)

June 12, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

October 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

October 8, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 2, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 2, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

June 8, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 8, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 2, 2026

Last Verified

June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Electromagnetic Treatment

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

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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