Could zapping the brain help beat opioid addiction?
NCT ID NCT04379115
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tests a non-invasive brain stimulation technique (tDCS plus ultrasound) to help people with opioid use disorder and chronic pain reduce drug use. Researchers will compare active stimulation to a sham (fake) treatment in 126 adults already on methadone. The goal is to see if this approach can lower cravings, pain, and opioid use.
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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 126 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Apr 2021
- Expected to finish
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Oct 2027
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 to 85 years
- 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.
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Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria Participants must meet all of the following: * Provide informed consent * Age 18-85 years * Diagnosis of opioid use disorder (DSM-5) with ongoing non-prescription opioid use confirmed by self-report and urine toxicology * Report current opioid craving * Enrolled in a certified Opioid Treatment Program and receiving methadone maintenance treatment * Stable methadone dose prior to enrollment * Reside locally with no plans to relocate during the study Exclusion Criteria Participants will be excluded if they: * Are pregnant * Have frequent illicit stimulant use or acute stimulant intoxication * Are using substances or medications that may interfere with study assessments (e.g., stimulant medications, buprenorphine-based therapies, naltrexone) * Have significant neurological conditions (e.g., stroke, epilepsy, brain tumor), abnormal EEG findings, history of brain surgery, significant head injury, or unexplained syncope * Have contraindications to noninvasive brain stimulation (e.g., metal in the head, implanted brain devices) * Have moderate to severe depression or active suicidal ideation/behavior * Have active malignancy * Consume substances that could confound opioid toxicology results (e.g., poppy-seed products)
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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.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
3 sites. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital - 5th Floor - Neuromodulation Center
RECRUITINGCambridge, Massachusetts, 02138, United States
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University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center/ Dahms Clinical Research Unit
RECRUITINGCleveland, Ohio, 44106-1716, United States
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University of Illinois Health/ University of Illinois at Chicago
RECRUITINGHinsdale, Illinois, 60612, United States
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