Zapping the brain to lift bipolar depression: new device shows promise
NCT ID NCT06516991
First seen Jun 24, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This study tested a non-invasive brain stimulation technique called temporal interference stimulation (TI) to improve depression in people with bipolar disorder. Thirty-six participants received 10 sessions over two weeks, targeting a deep brain area linked to pleasure and reward. The goal was to see if TI can safely reduce depressive symptoms and help understand how the brain's reward circuits work in bipolar depression.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Temporal Interference Stimulation (TI) device
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could offer a new, non-invasive brain stimulation option to help lift depressive episodes in bipolar disorder.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small, early-stage study with only 36 participants. Results may not apply to everyone, and the device's long-term effects are unknown.
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
-
36 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
-
Jul 2024
- Finished
-
Sep 2024
- 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
-
16 to 38 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: 1. Aged 16-50 years, right-handed, and completed nine years of compulsory education; 2. Meet the diagnostic criteria for bipolar disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5); 3. HAMD-17: \>17 points , assessed the presence of rapture deficits; 4. Subject had not been treated with a mood stabilizer, or had previously used an antidepressants and currently off medication for ≥1 week; 5. The subject/legal guardian is willing to actively cooperate with the treatment and sign an informed consent form after being fully informed of the temporal interference stimulus (TI). Exclusion Criteria: 1. Co-morbid other psychiatric disorders, including affective psychiatric disorders, anxiety spectrum disorders, mental retardation, substance dependence (abuse), etc.; 2. History of a serious physical illness or a disease that may affect the central nervous system; 3. Neurologic disorders or risk of seizures such as previous cranial disorders, head trauma, abnormal electroencephalograms, magnetic resonance evidence of structural brain abnormalities, or a family history of epilepsy; 4. Contraindications to magnetic resonance scanning or time-interference stimulation (TI), such as the presence of metallic or electronic devices in the body (intracranial metallic foreign bodies, cochlear implants, pacemakers and stents, and other metallic foreign bodies); 5. Those who have received or are receiving electroconvulsive therapy (ECT ), modified electroconvulsive therapy (MECT ), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS), or other neurostimulation treatments; 6. Pregnant and lactating women, and women of childbearing age with positive urine pregnancy.
Get updates
Get notified about this study
Sign up to get updates when this study changes or when new studies for Bipolar depression 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.
Contacts and locations
Locations
-
The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University
Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310000, China
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
- Can a Dopamine-Tuning drug lift bipolar depression?
- Can a Low-Dose Add-On drug lift depression and boost thinking in bipolar disorder?
- Can a single psychedelic dose rewire the depressed brain?
- Can brain implants read and treat bipolar depression without triggering mania?
- Brain wave patterns and inflammation: a clue to ECT's effectiveness in older adults?
- Could a common antibiotic and supplement lift bipolar depression?