Brain zaps aim to silence wrist pain without surgery
NCT ID NCT04206215
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Aug 19, 2026 · Updated 2 times
Summary
This study tests whether a painless brain stimulation technique (tDCS plus ultrasound) can reduce chronic pain in people with carpal tunnel syndrome. About 95 adults with long-term wrist pain will receive either real or fake (sham) stimulation to see if it lowers their pain scores. The goal is to find a non-invasive way to manage pain without drugs or surgery.
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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 95 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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Dec 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 80 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.
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. Able to provide informed consent to participate in the study 2. Subjects between 18 to 80 years old 3. Having symptomatic CTS spreading within or beyond the median nerve distribution (demonstrating 'extra-median spread'), involving at least 1 wrist, with chronic pain as defined by International Association for the Study of Pain (existing pain for at least 6 months and having pain on at least half the days in the past 6 months with an average of at least a 3 on a 0-10 VAS scale). 4. Pain resistant to first line therapies of chronic pain (pain still present at lower levels most of the time following therapy) 5. Must have the ability to feel pain as self-reported. Exclusion Criteria: 1. Subject is pregnant 2. Contraindications to tDCS+TUS: 1. intracranial metal implant 2. implanted brain medical devices 3. History of alcohol or drug abuse within the past 6 months as self-reported 4. Use of carbamazepine within the past 6 months as self-reported 5. Suffering from major depression (with a PHQ-9 score of ≥20) 6. History of neurological disorders involving stroke, brain tumors, or epilepsy with residual neurological symptoms as self-reported (note patients will also be evaluated via EEG at baseline about 1 week prior to stimulation and any patient showing abnormal EEG activity will be removed)) 7. History of unexplained fainting spells as self-reported 8. History of head injury resulting in more than a momentary loss of consciousness as self-reported and with current neurological deficits 9. History of intracranial neurosurgery as self-reported
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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
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
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Contacts and locations
Locations
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Spaulding Rehabilitation Network Research Institute
RECRUITINGCharlestown, Massachusetts, 02129, United States
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