Alternating and Direct Current Stimulation for the Treatment of Chronic Neuropathic Eye Pain and Cerebral Symptoms: a Pilot Study

Status: Recruiting
Location: See location...
Intervention Type: Device
Study Type: Interventional
Study Phase: Not Applicable
SUMMARY

The goal of this clinical intervention is to test if two forms of transcranial current stimulation, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) or transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) can alleviate neuropathic eye pain in a sample of 20 patients. The main aims are: * Test if tDCS/tACS can alleviate neuropathic eye pain and/or other cerebral symptoms: brain fatigue, migraine, light sensitivity, etc. * Test if one stimulation method is superior to the other Patients will be treated for a total of fifteen 30-minute stimulation sessions, three times a day over a five-day period, each stimulation separated by approximately 4 hours, with either active tACS or tDCS over the scalp corresponding to primary sensory and motor areas. The patients will have questionnaires to monitor subjective experiences and pupillometry before and after treatment to monitor experimental outcomes.

Eligibility
Participation Requirements
Sex: All
Minimum Age: 18
Healthy Volunteers: f
View:

• persistent eye pain for at least 6 months

• average eye pain intensity of 4 or more on a 0-10 numerical rating scale

• naive to transcranial stimulation

• eye pain having neuropathic-like characteristics

Locations
Other Locations
Sweden
Eye Clinic, University Hospital in Linköping
RECRUITING
Linköping
Contact Information
Primary
Neil Lagali, PhD
neil.lagali@liu.se
+4613286680
Backup
Magnus Thordstein, MD
magnus.thordstein@liu.se
Time Frame
Start Date: 2023-06-16
Estimated Completion Date: 2025-12-31
Participants
Target number of participants: 20
Treatments
Experimental: Transcranial alternating current stimulation
Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) device using 50x70 mm electrodes that are placed bilaterally between EEG coordinates C3/C5 for left hemisphere and C4/C6 for right hemisphere (corresponding to S1 and M1 of the eye). The alternating current electrodes are in-phase and have the same peak to peak stimulation 3mA, for 30 minutes duration at 10Hz. An impedance value under 15 ohms is required at all times to ensure patient comfort and safety.
Experimental: Transcranial direct current stimulation
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) device using 50x70 mm electrodes that has the anodal electrode placed contralateral to most prominent ocular pain or, in the case of bilateral pain symptoms, contralateral to the dominant hand between EEG coordinates C3/C5 for left hemisphere and C4/C6 for right hemisphere (corresponding to S1 and M1 of the eye), and the cathode placed on the patient's upper arm. A current peaking at 3mA will ramp up for 20 secs and be delivered for a total of 20 minutes, thereafter, ramping down for 20s. An impedance value under 15 ohms is required at all times to ensure patient comfort and safety.
Related Therapeutic Areas
Sponsors
Collaborators: Linkoeping University
Leads: Neil Lagali

This content was sourced from clinicaltrials.gov