Neurolyser XR for the Treatment of Sacroiliitis

June 12, 2026 updated by: Pasquale Buonanno, Federico II University

Safety and Efficacy of Using the Neurolyser XR Device for the Treatment of Sacroiliac Joint Related Low Back Pain

Our study aims to investigate the safety and efficacy of high intensity focused ultrasound in the management of low back pain due to sacroiliitis. Sacroiliitis is the inflammation of a joint in the lowest part of the spin and it is one of the cause of low back; the diagnosis is essentially based on clinical examination and the confirmation of this diagnosis relies on a significant pain relief following an infiltration of local anesthetic in the joint. One of the potential treatment is to ablate the nerves which carry the painful stimuli from the joint to the central nervous system through; these nerves enter the spinal canal through the sacral foramina which are two series of four pairs of openings located on the sacrum, the triangular bone at the base of the spine. Traditionally, these nerves are ablated by the heat produced by radiofrequency or the cold produced by cryoablation; both techniques require percutaneous needle insertion in close proximity to the targeted nerves, posing potential discomfort and risk of infection for the patient. High intensity focused ultrasound delivered by the device Neurolyser XR uses ultrasounds which are converged to the targeted point thanks to a gel pad positioned on the back of the patient; this mechanism of action does not require sterile conditions as the skin is not pierced and the discomfort of patient is dramatically reduced during the procedure for there is non need to insert and move any needle to properly position it. The correct orientation of the ultrasound beam is guaranteed by the alignment of the targeting system of the device and the X-ray image. The lesion is produced only if there is a bone right under the focus of the ultrasound beam and this is a safety system which assures that no direct injuries of other structures (e.g., vessels, spinal root) can be caused. To date, Neurolyser XR has been extensively used to treat facet joint syndrome through the ablation of the medial branches. However, its application in sacroiliitis has not yet been as deeply investigated.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

30

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

  • Italy
      • Naples, Italy, 80131
        • Department of Neuroscience, Reproductive and Odontostomatological Sciences
        • Contact:

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:

  • Adult males and females, legally able and willing to participate in the study and come for follow-up visits
  • Able and willing to fill the research questionnaires and to communicate with investigator and research team
  • Patient with bilateral or unilateral sacroiliac joint pain of > 6 months duration
  • Patients presenting with a) a positive (>70% pain relief) to a previous nerve ablation procedure of the sacroiliac joint and / or b) with a positive (>70% pain relief) to a previous nerve block procedure of the sacroiliac joint within the last six months)
  • Average pain score of 4 or higher in the last month, (on 0-10 scale).

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Pregnant or breastfeeding patient
  • Patients presenting with neurological deficits (including lumbosacral radiculopathy but not solitary radicular pain).
  • Patients with history of lumbar and / or sacral spine surgery
  • Patients with the presence of metal hardware at the lumbosacral spine
  • Patients with history of pelvic pathology that may increase procedural risk and / or influence symptoms and / or generate unrelated adverse event (per the discretion of the study principal investigator)
  • Patients unable to understand and complete the research questionnaires in Italian.
  • Patients presenting with any severe medical condition preventing the patient from safely and effectively being treated in the study or reporting study outcome.
  • Patient with extensive scarring in the skin and tissue overlying the treatment area.
  • Patients enrolled in or planned to be enrolled in another clinical trial during the duration of this research project.

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: HIFU patients
Device: Patients treated with high intensity focused ultrasound
Patients in this group will be treated with high intensity focused ultrasound; they will be placed in a prone position and through radiographic guidance, the targeting system of the device will be sequentially positioned in 6-8 points along a line between sacral foramina and sacroiliac joint to produce as many lesions. Before any ablation, a 20 second stimulation at low energy will be performed to confirm the right position of the ultrasound focus than a higher intensity stimulation will be applied to perform the ablation.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Pain intensity
Time Frame: From the enrollment to the end of 6 month follow-up
Numeric rating scale (NRS): the patient has to assign a number from 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst possible pain) to his pain
From the enrollment to the end of 6 month follow-up

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Federico II 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)

July 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

July 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

July 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 10, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 10, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

June 15, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 16, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 12, 2026

Last Verified

June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • PB002

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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