tACS for Sensory Motor Recovery After Stroke

Study Details

Brief summary:

The overall goal is to investigate the effectiveness of a novel intervention - transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) for motor recovery in stroke survivors.

Conditions

Motor Recovery

Study ID

NCT06029062

Start date

Sep 1, 2025

Status verified date

May, 2026

Completion date

Mar 31, 2028

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Sep 30, 2027

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion/exclusion criteria for stroke subjects

Inclusion criteria:

1. Age between 18\~75 years old
2. ≥ 6 months post stroke, medically stable;
3. Unilateral, single stroke (no restriction on type (ischemic or hemorrhagic) or volume (large or small) of stroke);
4. Visible finger flexor activation/movement
5. The ability to give consent

Exclusion criteria:

1. Patients with visual deficit/neglect; hearing or cognitive impairment;
2. Patients that are currently adjusting tone alternating medications (e.g., baclofen), or
3. Patients received botulinum toxin injection to the arm/fingers <4 months, or phenol injections <2 years;
4. Patients with pacemaker, metal implants or supplemental oxygen;
5. Patients who have musculoskeletal disorders, including pain in the affected side
6. Women who are pregnant.

Study Design

Enrollment

14 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Crossover

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: tACS Sham, tACS 10Hz, tACS 20Hz

tACS Sham is a temporary non-invasive electrical stimulation that applies a weak oscillatory current to the brain through the scalp for up to 30 second, it is not designed to entrain neuronal activity into any external regulatory frequency patterns.

tACS 10Hz is a 10Hz non-invasive electrical stimulation that applies a weak oscillatory current to the brain through the scalp or 20 or 40 minutes to entrain neuronal activity into 10Hz frequency patterns.

tACS 20Hz is a 20Hz non-invasive electrical stimulation that applies a weak oscillatory current to the brain through the scalp for 20 or 40 minutes to entrain neuronal activity into 20Hz frequency patterns.

experimental: HD-tACS 20Hz, HD-tACS 10Hz, HD-tACS Sham

tACS Sham is a temporary non-invasive electrical stimulation that applies a weak oscillatory current to the brain through the scalp for up to 30 second, it is not designed to entrain neuronal activity into any external regulatory frequency patterns.

tACS 10Hz is a 10Hz non-invasive electrical stimulation that applies a weak oscillatory current to the brain through the scalp or 20 or 40 minutes to entrain neuronal activity into 10Hz frequency patterns.

tACS 20Hz is a 20Hz non-invasive electrical stimulation that applies a weak oscillatory current to the brain through the scalp for 20 or 40 minutes to entrain neuronal activity into 20Hz frequency patterns.

experimental: HD-tACS 10Hz, HD-tACS 20Hz, HD-tACS Sham

tACS Sham is a temporary non-invasive electrical stimulation that applies a weak oscillatory current to the brain through the scalp for up to 30 second, it is not designed to entrain neuronal activity into any external regulatory frequency patterns.

tACS 10Hz is a 10Hz non-invasive electrical stimulation that applies a weak oscillatory current to the brain through the scalp or 20 or 40 minutes to entrain neuronal activity into 10Hz frequency patterns.

tACS 20Hz is a 20Hz non-invasive electrical stimulation that applies a weak oscillatory current to the brain through the scalp for 20 or 40 minutes to entrain neuronal activity into 20Hz frequency patterns.

Interventions

tACS Sham

Sham tACS will applied to the brain through the scalp for 20 minutes.

tACS 10Hz

10Hz tACS will applied to the brain through the scalp for 20 minutes.

tACS 20Hz

20Hz tACS will applied to the brain through the scalp for 20 minutes.

Primary outcome measure

Block and Box Test (BBT) of Motor functional test [ Time Frame: Change of BBT performance 5 minutes before and 5 minutes after the tACS intervention will be measured. ]
EEG alpha band and Beta band [ Time Frame: Change of EEG alpha band and Beta band 5 minutes before and 5 minutes after the tACS intervention will be measured. ]