Ear-Zap hope: new device may spark awakening in Brain-Injured patients
NCT ID NCT07284732
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study explores whether a safe, non-invasive device that stimulates a nerve in the ear can improve consciousness in people who are in a vegetative or minimally conscious state after a severe brain injury. Twenty participants will receive the stimulation twice daily for 10 days. Researchers will measure changes in awareness using a standard behavioral scale and brain activity recordings.
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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 20 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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May 2024
- Expected to finish
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May 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 70 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: * Aged 18-70 years, with a disease duration exceeding 28 days but not longer than 1 year. * Patients diagnosed with disorders of consciousness (DoC), specifically classified as either vegetative state (VS) or minimally conscious state (MCS) according to the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) based on international guidelines. * No prior history of neuropsychiatric disorders. * Absence of contraindications to transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) or electroencephalography (EEG), and no concurrent use of sedatives or medications that may interfere with cerebral stimulation-including Na⁺ or Ca²⁺ channel blockers or NMDA receptor antagonists. * Intact skin at the auricular site. Exclusion Criteria: * Participation in other trials involving non-invasive or invasive neuromodulation. * Uncontrolled epilepsy, defined as seizures occurring within 4 weeks prior to enrollment. * Presence of cranial metal implants, pacemakers, craniotomy at the stimulation site, implanted brain devices, or similar conditions. * Cardiac arrhythmia or other significant cardiovascular abnormalities; * History of respiratory disorders, including dyspnea, asthma, or hyperventilation. * History of vasovagal syncope.
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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
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A doctor treating you
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Contacts and locations
Locations
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Zhujiang Hospital of Southern Medical University
RECRUITINGGuangzhou, Guangdong, 510280, China
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