Temporal Interference Stimulation of Hypothalamus in Patients With Narcolepsy Type 1 (TINY)

July 23, 2026 updated by: Xijing Hospital

Efficacy and Safety of Temporal Interference Stimulation of Hypothalamus in Patients With Narcolepsy Type 1: A Randomised, Double-blind, Sham-Controlled, Single-Centre Trial

Narcolepsy type 1 (NT1) is a chronic brain disorder caused by selective loss or dysfunction of orexin (hypocretin) neurons in the lateral hypothalamus, for which current pharmacological treatments offer limited efficacy. Temporal interference (TI) stimulation is a recently developed noninvasive neuromodulation technique that enables focal modulation of deep brain structures. In this randomized, double-blind study, we developed a theta-burst patterned TI protocol and evaluated its effects in patients with NT1.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

24

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

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

  • Child
  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Aged 12 to 60 years.
  • Diagnosis of narcolepsy type 1 according to the International Classification of Sleep Disorders, Third Edition (ICSD-3), confirmed by polysomnography (PSG) and/or Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT) performed within the past 10 years, with the test procedures meeting the minimum technical standards specified in the ICSD-3.
  • Epworth Sleepiness Scale score >12 at baseline.
  • Signed informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Presence of other conditions that cause excessive daytime sleepiness, including restless legs syndrome, periodic limb movement disorder, or moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, etc.
  • History of epilepsy, severe neuropsychiatric disorders, or significant cardiac, hepatic, or renal dysfunction.
  • Pregnancy or current breastfeeding.
  • Contraindications to MRI or electrical stimulation therapy, such as intracranial metallic foreign bodies, cardiac pacemakers, implantable cardioverter-defibrillators, or cochlear implants.

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
Experimental: Active TI stimulation
Participants will receive twice-daily TI stimulation, administered 4 hours apart or more, for 2 weeks. The current will be applied for 40 minutes per session.
Device: Active Temporal Interference Stimulation
For the active TI stimulation, the current was applied for 40 minutes per session.
Sham Comparator: Sham TI stimulation
Participants will receive twice-daily TI stimulation, administered 4 hours apart or more, for 2 weeks. Each session is scheduled for 40 minutes, but actual current is delivered only as a short 30-second pulse at the start and at the end, with no current applied in between.
Device: Sham Temporal Interference Stimulation
For the sham stimulation, a brief 30-second current was delivered at the beginning and at the end of each session, with no current applied in between.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Change from baseline to week 2 in mean sleep latency from the MWT
Time Frame: Baseline, Week 2
Baseline, Week 2
The incidence of adverse events and serious adverse events
Time Frame: Baseline, 2-week treatment period, 4-week follow-up period
Baseline, 2-week treatment period, 4-week follow-up period

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change from baseline to week 2 in Epworth Sleepiness Scale total score
Time Frame: Baseline, Week 2
The Epworth Sleepiness Scale total score ranges from 0 to 24, with higher scores reflecting more severe daytime sleepiness
Baseline, Week 2
Change from baseline to week 2 in Narcolepsy Severity Scale score
Time Frame: Baseline, Week 2
The Narcolepsy Severity Scale score comprises 15 items assessing the frequency and severity of excessive daytime sleepiness, cataplexy, hypnagogic hallucinations, sleep paralysis, and disrupted nighttime sleep (total score 0-57, higher scores indicating greater severity)
Baseline, Week 2
Change from baseline to week 2 in weekly cataplexy frequency
Time Frame: Baseline, Week 2
Baseline, Week 2
Change from baseline to weeks 1, 2, 3, and 4 following treatment in Epworth Sleepiness Scale total score
Time Frame: Weeks 1, 2, 3, and 4 following treatment
The Epworth Sleepiness Scale total score ranges from 0 to 24, with higher scores reflecting more severe daytime sleepiness
Weeks 1, 2, 3, and 4 following treatment
Change from baseline to weeks 1, 2, 3, and 4 following treatment in Narcolepsy Severity Scale score
Time Frame: Weeks 1, 2, 3 and 4 following treatment
The Narcolepsy Severity Scale score comprises 15 items assessing the frequency and severity of excessive daytime sleepiness, cataplexy, hypnagogic hallucinations, sleep paralysis, and disrupted nighttime sleep (total score 0-57, higher scores indicating greater severity)
Weeks 1, 2, 3 and 4 following treatment
Change from baseline to weeks 1, 2, 3, and 4 following treatment in weekly cataplexy frequency
Time Frame: Weeks 1, 2, 3 and 4 following treatment
Weeks 1, 2, 3 and 4 following treatment

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Blinding efficacy
Time Frame: Week 2
Participants' subjective guess of whether they received TI (yes, no, or uncertain).
Week 2
Change from baseline to week 2 in sleep latency and nighttime sleep architecture derived from PSG
Time Frame: Baseline, Week 2
Baseline, Week 2
Change from baseline to week 2 in power spectral density derived from EEG
Time Frame: Baselien, Week 2
Baselien, Week 2
Change from baseline to week 2 in functional connectivity derived from MRI
Time Frame: Baseline, Week 2
Baseline, Week 2

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Xijing Hospital

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)

November 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 12, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 23, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

July 27, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 27, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 23, 2026

Last Verified

July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • KY20262162-F-1

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

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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