Zapping anxiety with sound waves: new brain study tests Non-Invasive tFUS
NCT ID NCT06273904
First seen Jun 25, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This study tests whether a technology called transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) can temporarily change brain activity linked to anxiety. Researchers will recruit 40 adults with anxiety disorders who recently started treatment. Participants will undergo brain imaging and then receive either active or sham tFUS while performing emotional tasks. This is not a treatment study, but it may help develop future therapies.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS)
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this could point toward a non-invasive way to temporarily adjust brain activity in anxiety disorders, potentially informing future treatments.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small, early-stage study (40 people) that is not designed to treat anxiety. It only measures temporary brain changes, so it may not lead to any practical treatment.
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
-
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
-
About 40 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
-
May 2024
- Expected to finish
-
Jan 2027
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
-
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
-
18 to 65 years
- Sex
-
Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
-
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: * 18-65 y.o. * Meets criteria for an anxiety disorder (Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, Specific Phobia), posttraumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or current adjustment disorder with anxiety * Is currently seeking mental health treatment * Is able to read consent document and provide informed consent. * English is a first or primary fluent language. Exclusion Criteria: * Current alcohol or substance use disorder of more than mild severity (as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)-5 and determined using standardized self-report instruments) * Lifetime diagnosis of psychotic disorder or bipolar mania * Presence of neurological disorder that contraindicates brain stimulation or neurophysiological recording: Seizure disorder * Lifetime history of traumatic brain injury with loss of consciousness * Neurodegenerative disorder (e.g., Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, Frontotemporal Dementia) * Presence of other medical disorder that would make it too uncomfortable to sit or lie still for long recording periods * Presence of standard contraindications for magnetic resonance imaging * Metal in the body * Currently pregnant * Claustrophobia * Significant sensitivity to noise * Medical conditions or treatments that lower seizure threshold * History of severe brain injury * History of seizures/ epilepsy * Currently taking anticholinergic mediation, neuroleptic medication, or sedative/ hypnotic medication Note: selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs), cholinesterase inhibitors or N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists are allowed if patient has been on a stable regimen of four weeks prior to enrollment * Currently taking chronic opiate medications or substances * Currently taking naltrexone
Get updates
Get notified about this study
Sign up to get updates when this study changes or when new studies for Adjustment disorder with anxiety are added.
Genom att skicka in godkänner du våra Användarvillkor
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.
-
The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
-
The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
-
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
-
Medical University of South Carolina
RECRUITINGCharleston, South Carolina, 29425, United States
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
- Reading the Brain's signals to predict who benefits from deep brain stimulation
- Can a Two-Day couples retreat ease PTSD?
- Brain scans and biosamples: mapping why OCD looks so different in every person
- Can a cannabis tincture quiet an anxious mind?
- Can a computer game rewire anxious Kids' brains?
- Can community health workers help trauma survivors heal?