Shock therapy for lungs? electrical zaps may boost exercise in COPD
NCT ID NCT06851195
First seen Jun 24, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This study tests whether using a device that sends mild electrical pulses to the leg muscles can help people with COPD feel more confident about exercise, reduce shortness of breath during activity, and lessen fatigue. Forty patients with mild to severe COPD will receive the stimulation along with standard pulmonary rehab for 8 weeks. Researchers will measure changes in self-efficacy, breathlessness, and fatigue using questionnaires and a physical performance test.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- lower limb neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) device
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could offer a simple, drug-free way to help COPD patients feel more confident exercising, with less shortness of breath and fatigue.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small, early-stage study with only 40 participants and no control group, so results may not be generalizable. The device may cause discomfort or skin irritation, and benefits might be modest.
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
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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 40 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Feb 2025
- 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.
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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: * Patients diagnosed with COPD as per pulmonary function reports, with post-bronchodilator FEV1/FVC ratio \< 0.7, confirmed as mild to severe COPD by physician, without acute exacerbation, aged 18 or above, enrolled in a pulmonary rehabilitation program, able to communicate clearly in Mandarin or Taiwanese, and without history of a psychiatric disorders. Exclusion Criteria: * Patients unable to comply with long-term follow-up for lower limb neuromuscular electrical stimulation intervention, those with cardiac pacemakers, lower limb bone, joint, or neuromuscular diseases, obesity (BMI \>35 kg/m2), or systemic vascular diseases (e.g., lupus erythematosus).
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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
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
The full official record for this study. This one lists no contact details, but it is the first place any would appear.
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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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Kaohsiung Medical University Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital
Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 807378, Taiwan
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