Electric pulses to the lungs: a new hope for COPD cough?
NCT ID NCT07068438
First seen Jun 25, 2026 · Last updated Jun 26, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This study tests a device that delivers gentle electric pulses to the airways to reduce chronic bronchitis symptoms in adults with COPD. About 210 participants will either receive the real treatment or a sham procedure. The goal is to see if the treatment improves breathing and quality of life.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Pulsed electric field ablation system (device)
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could provide a new, non-drug option to reduce coughing and mucus in people with COPD and chronic bronchitis.
- What could go wrong
- This is an early-stage, sham-controlled trial, so the real benefit is still unproven. The procedure involves two lung treatments, which carry risks like infection or breathing problems.
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 210 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Expected to start
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Sep 2025
An estimate. Start dates often move.
- Expected to finish
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Feb 2027
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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A company
The lead sponsor is a pharmaceutical, biotech, or medical-device company.
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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35 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. Subject's age is ≥35 years and ≤80 years. 2. Patient has chronic bronchitis, defined as productive cough for three months in each of two successive years, whereas other causes of productive cough have been ruled out. 3. Patient has a CAT score ≥ 10. 4. Patient has an SGRQ score ≥ 25. 5. Patient's responses to the first two questions of the CAT instrument sum to ≥ 7 points or the sum is 6 points and the patient's total CAT score is \> 20 points. 6. Patient has FEV1/FVC \< 0.70. 7. Patient has a pre-procedure post-bronchodilator FEV1 percent predicted of ≥ 30%. 8. Patient is receiving guideline directed pharmacotherapy which includes one or more long acting bronchodilator (LAMA, LABA) with or without an inhaled corticosteroid for at least 8 weeks prior to randomization, unless the patient has attempted such therapy within the past 1 year without significant clinical response or had an adverse reaction. 9. In the opinion of the Primary investigator, patient is able to undergo 2 bronchoscopies under general anesthesia and is able to adhere to the study follow-up schedule. 10. Informed consent signed by the patient or legal representative. Exclusion Criteria: 1. Patient has known unresolved lower respiratory tract infection (e.g., pneumonia, mycobacterium avium-intracellulare infection (MAI), fungus, tuberculosis). 2. Patient has a steroid-dependent condition requiring \>10 mg of oral corticosteroid per day. 3. Patient has any implantable electronic device (e.g., pacemaker, cardioverter defibrillator) that cannot be turned off during the procedure. 4. Patient has a history of ventricular tachy-arrhythmia or clinically significant atrial tachyarrhythmia within the past two years, or sinus bradycardia with a heart rate of under than 45 beats per minute, unless the arrhythmia has been treated and/or patient is in regular rhythm during the screening phase. 5. Subject has lung cancer. 6. Patient has a pulmonary nodule or cavity that in the judgement of the Primary investigator may require intervention during the course of the study. 7. Patient had prior lung surgery, such as lung transplant, LVRS, lobectomy, lung implant/prosthesis, metal airway stent, valves, coils or bullectomy. 8. Patient has emphysema of greater than or equal to 50% as quantified on baseline HRCT scan as determined by the CT Core Lab. 9. Patient has asthma based on Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) criteria. 10. Patient has clinically significant bronchiectasis influencing the patient's clinical symptoms of cough and phlegm. 11. Patient has actively smoked (including tobacco, marijuana, e-cigarettes, vaping, etc.) within the last 2 months. 12. Patient is unable to walk over 225 meters in 6 minutes. 13. Patient has a serious medical condition that, in the Primary investigator's opinion, could compromise patient safety or confound the interpretation of the patient's response to therapy (e.g., congestive heart failure, cardiomyopathy, or myocardial infarction in the past year, renal failure, liver disease, cerebrovascular accident within the past 6 months, uncontrolled diabetes (HbA1c \>8%), uncontrolled hypertension (diastolic BP \>100mmHg) or autoimmune disease requiring treatment with immunosuppressant medications or a disease requiring chemotherapy). 14. Patient has uncontrolled GERD. 15. Patient has known severe pulmonary hypertension (pulmonary artery SP ≥ 50 mmHg). 16. Patient has a known sensitivity to medication required to perform bronchoscopy (i.e., lidocaine, atropine, benzodiazepines). 17. Patient is pregnant, nursing, or planning to get pregnant during study duration. 18. Patient is currently participating in another clinical study involving an investigational product. 19. Patient is receiving anticoagulation for a cardiovascular indication and, in the Primary investigator's opinion, unable to suspend anticoagulant medications (i.e., aspirin, clopidogrel, warfarin) during bronchoscopy in accordance. 20. Patient has known airway colonization with drug-resistant bacteria such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Burkholderia cepacia complex, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Mycobacterium abscessus, Trichoderma, or other significant fungi.
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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
13 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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Affiliated Beijing Chaoyang Hospital of Capital Medical University
NOT_YET_RECRUITINGBeijing, Beijing Municipality, 100020, China
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Anhui Chest Hospital
NOT_YET_RECRUITINGHefei, Anui, 230022, China
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Hospital Emergency General
NOT_YET_RECRUITINGBeijing, Beijing Municipality, 100028, China
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Jinhua Central Hospital
NOT_YET_RECRUITINGJinhua, Zhejiang, 321000, China
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Lishui Central Hospital
NOT_YET_RECRUITINGLishui, Zhejiang, 323000, China
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Quzhou People's Hospital
NOT_YET_RECRUITINGQuzhou, Zhejiang, 324000, China
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Shaoxing People's Hospital
NOT_YET_RECRUITINGShaoxing, Zhejiang, 312000, China
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Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, affiliated with Zhejiang University School of Medicine
RECRUITINGHangzhou, Zhejiang, 310016, China
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The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical College
NOT_YET_RECRUITINGXuzhou, Jiangsu, 221006, China
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The First Affiliated Hospital Of Nanchang University
NOT_YET_RECRUITINGNanchang, Jiangxi, 330006, China
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The First People's Hospital of Changzhou
NOT_YET_RECRUITINGChangzhou, Jiangsu, 213003, China
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The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University
NOT_YET_RECRUITINGSuzhou, Jiangsu, 215005, China
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The Second People's Hospital of Wuxi
NOT_YET_RECRUITINGWuxi, Jiangsu, 214002, China
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