Ear device could boost language after stroke – small trial underway
NCT ID NCT06403475
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This pilot study tests whether a non-invasive device that stimulates the vagus nerve through the ear can help people with chronic aphasia (trouble finding words) after a stroke. Thirty-six participants will use the device at home while doing computer-based speech therapy for six weeks. The main goal is to see if the approach is safe, tolerable, and feasible, with a secondary look at whether it improves word-finding.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) device
- What this could lead to
- If this works, it could point toward a new, home-based way to improve language recovery in people with long-term aphasia after stroke.
- What could go wrong
- This is a very early, small pilot study with only 36 participants. It is designed mainly to test safety and feasibility, not effectiveness. There are no published studies on tVNS for aphasia yet, so results are uncertain.
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 36 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Apr 2024
- Expected to finish
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Jan 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 years and older
- 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: * Supratentorial stroke at least 6 months prior to recruitment * Aphasia (with word finding difficulties) * Ability to engage in the programme (support can be provided for cognitive or receptive difficulties) * Sufficient vision to engage in the computer-based SLT programme Exclusion Criteria: * Implanted devices (e.g. pacemaker) or implanted stimulation devices * Currently receiving a programme of Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) * Damage to the vagus nerve * Symptomatic bradycardia/ 2nd or 3rd heart block * Pregnancy * Unable to speak English * Severe deafness (despite using hear aids)
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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
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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Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
RECRUITINGSheffield, S10 2JF, United Kingdom
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
- Can hearing your own voice rewire speech after a stroke?
- A wearable ankle robot may boost walking recovery after stroke
- Virtual reality rehab aims to bring stroke therapy home
- Which balance training works better after stroke? a trial puts two methods to the test
- Zapping the brain to restore speech after stroke?
- Could a cuff and a tingle restore leg strength after stroke?