Could a smartphone app and two sensors prevent tension headaches?

NCT ID NCT07136740

What the study statuses mean

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Recruitment status, easiest to join first

Recruiting now This study
This trial is taking on new participants right now.
Not yet recruiting
Registered, but not yet taking participants.
By invitation only
Not open to general applications. Only people the study team invites can take part.
Paused
Paused for now. It may or may not start again.
Ongoing
Running, but no longer taking on new participants.
Completed
The trial has finished. Results may not be published yet.
Stopped early
Stopped early, before it reached the end. That can be for many reasons, including safety.
Cancelled
Cancelled before anyone took part.

Expanded access (not trials)

Expanded access
Not a trial. This treatment can be requested outside a study, case by case, for people who qualify.
Expanded access (paused)
Not a trial. The treatment can normally be requested outside a study, but is unavailable right now.
Expanded access (ended)
Not a trial. The treatment could once be requested outside a study, but no longer can.
Approved
The treatment has been approved, so it is available normally rather than through this programme.

When the status isn't known

Details not published
The full record has not been published yet, so there is little to show here.
Status unknown
This status has not been confirmed recently, so it may be out of date.

First seen Jul 21, 2026 · Last updated Jul 22, 2026 · Updated 1 time

Summary

This study tests a home-based biofeedback device that uses a smartphone app and two wireless sensors—one on the finger and one on the shoulder—to help adults with frequent or chronic tension-type headaches. Participants use the device regularly to learn to control muscle tension and other body signals, aiming to prevent headaches. The trial compares the device to a wait-list control group to see if it safely reduces headache burden.

What this could mean

Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.

Active substance
Cerebri-TTH biofeedback device, a home-based smartphone app with two wireless sensors measuring heart rate, heart rate variability, skin temperature, and muscle tension
What this could lead to
If effective, this device could offer a drug-free, home-based option to reduce headache frequency and severity for people with tension-type headaches.
What could go wrong
This is a relatively early-stage study, and the placebo effect is strong in headache trials. The device may not prove better than waiting or a sham treatment.

This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.

Study facts

What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.

Phase

Not a phased trial

Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.

Participants

About 300 people

The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.

Started

Oct 2025

Expected to finish

Dec 2027

An estimate. End dates often move.

Lead sponsor

Other sponsor

The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.

Who can take part

This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.

Ages

18 years and older

Sex

Anyone

Healthy volunteers

Not accepted

This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.

Show the full entry requirements

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: * 18 years of age inclusive or older, at the time of signing the informed consent. * A diagnosis of TTH according to the criteria of the International Classification of Headache Disorders 3rd edition (ICHD-3) * History of at least 6 days or more with TTH per 28-day period in the 3 months prior to screening (as recalled by the subject). * Frequency of at least 6 days or more with TTH per 28-day period, confirmed by daily diary entries in the baseline period. * At least three months of experience with smartphone and access to an iOS or Android phone at home. * Capability of giving signed informed consent which includes compliance with the requirements and restrictions listed in the informed consent form (ICF) and in this protocol. * Onset of TTH (and migraine, if present) before the age of 50 years. * The onset of TTH should be present for at least 1 year prior to inclusion. Exclusion Criteria: * Subject does not master a Scandinavian language at a level sufficient to fully understand the written and verbal study information. * Subject is unable to differentiate TTH from other concomitant headaches. * A history of more than 1 migraine attack per month on average in the last year, as recalled by the patient. * Frequency of more than 1 migraine attack per month during the baseline period, as confirmed by daily diary entries. * Subjects diagnosed with trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias and cranial neuralgias. * Subjects with secondary headache conditions with the exception of medication overuse headache (MOH) as defined in the ICHD-3 criteria that undergo a successful 8 weeks acute medication stop, and does not overuse medication in the following 28 day period. * Use of concurrent TTH preventive medication, with the exception of stable dose (≥3 months or 5 half-lives, whichever is longer) monotherapy of TTH preventive medication. * Use of prophylactic medication with known prophylactic effect on other headache disorders, whatever the indication, with the exception of stable dose (≥3 months or 5 half-lives, whichever is longer) monotherapy of any preventive medication. * Subjects taking opioids (\>3 days per month) or barbiturates at the time of screening. * Reduced sensibility, hearing or vision to a degree that impairs proper use of the app. * Patients with comorbid psychiatric disorders with psychotic or other symptoms making compliance with the study protocol difficult, at the discretion of the investigator. * Patients exhibiting a high degree of comorbidity and/or frailty associated with reduced life expectancy or high likelihood of hospitalization, at the discretion of the investigator. * Use of non-pharmacological preventive treatment, that in the opinion of the investigator is likely to interfere with the evaluation of the biofeedback treatment strategy under investigation. Stable non-pharmacological treatments for other indications than TTH that is not likely to interfere, is allowed if it is kept unaltered during study participation. * Previous or current use of biofeedback equipment. * Other pain conditions, not intended to be treated in this study, that in the opinion of the investigator could interfere with study procedures, accurate pain reporting, and/or confound evaluation of study endpoints * High probability neurological deterioration due to other medical conditions, that in the opinion of the investigator may confound outcome assessment. * Have within 6 months of enrolment a significant untreated addiction to dependency-producing medications, alcohol, or illicit drugs. * Abnormal pain behaviour, inappropriate medication-use and/or unresolved psychiatric illness, that in the opinion of the investigator are significant enough to impact perception of pain, compliance with intervention and/or ability to evaluate treatment outcome. * Subject is currently participating or planning to participate in another clinical investigation. * Subject who is unlikely to follow Clinical Investigation Plan or where treatment seems futile in the opinion of the Investigator or have demonstrated an inability to sufficiently adhere to headache diary entries (\<70%). This study excludes patients with more than 1 migraine attack per month. A migraine attack is defined according to ICHD-3 criteria as attacks of unilateral, pulsating, moderate or severe headache lasting 4-72 hours that is aggravated by physical activity, associated with nausea and/or photophobia and phonophobia, and, in some cases, preceded by unilateral, fully-reversible central nervous system symptoms.

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Conditions

The condition(s) this trial relates to.

Tension-Type Headache

As listed by the trial registrant

The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.

How to take part

Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.

  1. The places running it

    1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.

  2. The official record

    ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.

    Open the record ↗

  3. A doctor treating you

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Contacts and locations

Locations

  • Namsos Hospital

    RECRUITING

    Namsos, 7800, Norway

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