Could a zapping headband save your sight?
NCT ID NCT05626491
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tests whether long-term, mild electrical stimulation using a home device can safely slow vision loss in people with open-angle glaucoma. About 45 adults with moderate vision damage will use the device regularly. The goal is to see if this approach can protect the optic nerve and preserve eyesight.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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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
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About 45 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Feb 2023
- Expected to finish
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Dec 2026
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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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
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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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 Hide 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: 1. Participant must be at least 18. 2. Participant must has the ability to comply with the requirements of the study and complete the schedule of events (SOE). 3. Participant's clinical diagnosis must be consistent with glaucoma characterized by the following features: Mean deviation (MD) worse than -3 on Humphrey Visual Field 24-2 testing. Reliable visual field measures, fixation losses do not exceed 20% and false positives do not exceed 20%. 4. Visual Field Index between 10 and 90% 5. Corrected visual acuity ≥ 1.00 (logMAR), 20/200 (Snellen), 0.10 (decimal) 6. In the opinion of the investigator the participant's eye pressure must be clinically stable. 7. If a participant has two eyes meeting study criteria, the worse eye as determined by mean deviation. If both eyes qualify and have the same MD, the patient may choose which eye they are willing to enter, or else a randomization procedure will assign one eye to the study. 8. Participant must understand and sign the informed consent. If the participant's vision is impaired to the point where he/she cannot read the informed consent document, the document will be read to the participant in its entirety. Exclusion Criteria: 1. Participant is unable to comply with study procedures or follow-up visits. 2. Participant has a history of ocular herpes zoster. 3. Participant has pathological nystagmus 4. Participant has evidence of visually significant retinopathy including but not limited to Diabetic retinopathy or retinitis pigmentosa. 5. Participant has evidence of corneal opacification or lack of optical clarity. 6. Participant has uveitis or other ocular inflammatory disease. 7. Participant has any electric or electronic implants such as a pacemaker. 8. Participant has acute conjunctivitis. 9. Participant has acute autoimmune disease. 10. Participant is currently participating in or has within the last 3 months participated in any other clinical trial of a drug by ocular (if in the study eye) or systemic administration. 11. Participant is pregnant or lactating. 12. Participant has, in the opinion of the investigator, any physical or mental condition that would increase the risk of participation in the study or may interfere with the study procedures, evaluations and outcome assessments. Including but not limited to all forms of dementia. 13. Unresected brain tumors 14. Implanted intracranial magnetic metals (metallic implants in the head / skull such as clamps, coils, ventriculo-peritoneal shunts, endoprostheses, etc.), which are not MRI-compatible. Note: metallic dental implants and titanium screws or plates are acceptable 15. Patients with any skin damage. 16. Children and comatose patients. 17. Patients with history of epileptic seizure within the last 10 years. 18. Patients with uncontrolled systemic hypertension or uncontrolled diabetes. 19. Self-reported alcohol or illicit drug addictions within the last 12 months. 20. Participant is not able to travel, to comply with the requirements of the study or not willing to complete the schedule of events (SOE) and/or unable to confirm follow-up participation 21. Prior participation in a vision training/stimulation study in the last 12 months
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Byers Eye Institute
Palo Alto, California, 94303, United States
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NYU- Langone
New York, New York, 10017, United States
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Otto-von-Guericke University
Magdeburg, Germany
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Wills Eye Hospital
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19107, United States
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
- The effect of topical rho-kinase (ROCK) inhibitors on corneas of patients with fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD)
- Vitamin B3 may shield retinal nerves in glaucoma
- Can a puff of air replace the eye pressure probe?
- New eye scans may catch glaucoma before vision loss
- Can a simple office procedure ease glaucoma pressure?
- Home Eye-Pressure checks could slow glaucoma vision loss