Dual-hemisphere Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Lower Limb Motor Functions After Stroke

NCT03035162 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: MU-CIRB 2016/048.0704
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 19
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The aim of the present study is to evaluate the possible effect of using dual-tDCS combined with conventional physical therapy on lower limb function in stroke patients.

Conditions

Stroke

Keywords

dual tDCS; physical rehabilitation; lower limb functions

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Strength

  Knee extensors strength is required to perform lower functions including sit-to-stand and gait. Knee extensor strength will measure using Biodex system, performing while the subjects comfortably seat in the position of knee flexed at 120° and ankle at 110° of plantar flexion on the attached footplate. Subjects will perform 3 isometric maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) of the knee extensor during a duration of 5 sec, separated by 2 min rest. The highest MVC in each session will be used as MVC level.

  15 minutes

• Five-Times-Sit-To-Stand test (FTSST)

  Subject will sits with arms folded across chest or the paretic arm at the side or in a sling. Subjects will be instructed as the following "I want you to stand up and sit down 5 times as quickly as you can when I say 'Go'." Subjects must be fully standing between repetitions. Timing will begin at "GO" and ends when the patient's buttocks touch the seat after the fifth sit-to-stand.

  5 minutes

• Timed Up & Go test (TUG)

  Subjects will sits on the chair and place their back against the chair. Timing will begin at "GO", the subjects will be asked to walk 3m, turn, walk back, and sit down. The stopwatch stops when the patient's buttocks touch the seat.

  5 minutes

Study Arms (2)

Active tDCS & PT

EXPERIMENTAL

Dual transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) will be applied over the leg motor area (M1) priori to conventional physical therapy (1 hours). Anodal on affected hemisphere, Cathodal on unaffected hemisphere. Current intensity is fixed at 2 mA and current will flow continuously during 20 minutes for the active conditions. Physical therapist will give an intervention program exactly the same in all cases. The scope of intervention is administered to improve strength of weakened and postural lower limbs muscles such as trunk muscles, hip flexors/extensors/abductors, knee flexors/extensors.

Device: Transcranial direct current stimulation

Sham tDCS & PT

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Dual transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) will be applied over the leg motor area (M1) priori to conventional physical therapy (1 hours). Anodal on affected hemisphere, Cathodal on unaffected hemisphere. Current intensity is fixed at 2 mA and current will flow only 2 minutes for the sham conditions. Physical therapist will give an intervention program exactly the same in all cases. The scope of intervention is administered to improve strength of weakened and postural lower limbs muscles such as trunk muscles, hip flexors/extensors/abductors, knee flexors/extensors.

Device: Transcranial direct current stimulation

Interventions

Transcranial direct current stimulation DEVICE

Dual Active/sham tDCS will be applied over the leg motor area (M1) priori to conventional physical therapy (1 hours). Anodal on affected hemisphere, Cathodal on unaffected hemisphere. Each participant will complete two experiments (active/sham tDCS). The interval between two experiments is at least 48 hours. The two experiments will be performed in random order for each subject.

Active tDCS & PT; Sham tDCS & PT

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 75 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Age range 18-75 years.
• First ever-ischemic lesion in the territory of middle cerebral artery or anterior cerebral artery. CT scan/MRI result is thus required.
• Sub acute phase of stroke (less than 6 months)
• Able to sit-to-stand and stand-to-sit independently
• Able to walk without physical assistance at least 6 m
• Free of any neurological antecedent, unstable medical conditions or condition that may increase the risk of stimulation such as epilepsy; although tDCS is believed to induce less or no risk of seizure and epileptic seizure have never been reported in tDCS study even in a study with active epilepsy (Fregni et al., 2006).

You may not qualify if:

• Pre-stroke disability
• Pregnant
• Be unable to understand the instruction
• No clear neurological antecedent history or psychiatric disorder
• Excessive pain in any joint of the paretic limb (numerical pain rating score \> 7)
• Presence of intracranial metal implantation, cochlea implant, or cardiac pacemaker
• Subjects are participating in the other protocol or receiving alternative treatment such as acupuncture

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Mahidol University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Faculty ofPhysical Therapy, Mahidol University

Salaya, Nakonpathom, 73170, Thailand

Location

Related Publications (7)

• Cabral ME, Baltar A, Borba R, Galvao S, Santos L, Fregni F, Monte-Silva K. Transcranial direct current stimulation: before, during, or after motor training? Neuroreport. 2015 Aug 5;26(11):618-22. doi: 10.1097/WNR.0000000000000397.

  PMID: 26049257 BACKGROUND

• Fregni F, Thome-Souza S, Nitsche MA, Freedman SD, Valente KD, Pascual-Leone A. A controlled clinical trial of cathodal DC polarization in patients with refractory epilepsy. Epilepsia. 2006 Feb;47(2):335-42. doi: 10.1111/j.1528-1167.2006.00426.x.

  PMID: 16499758 BACKGROUND

• Jeffery DT, Norton JA, Roy FD, Gorassini MA. Effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on the excitability of the leg motor cortex. Exp Brain Res. 2007 Sep;182(2):281-7. doi: 10.1007/s00221-007-1093-y. Epub 2007 Aug 24.

  PMID: 17717651 BACKGROUND

• Kim CR, Kim DY, Kim LS, Chun MH, Kim SJ, Park CH. Modulation of cortical activity after anodal transcranial direct current stimulation of the lower limb motor cortex: a functional MRI study. Brain Stimul. 2012 Oct;5(4):462-7. doi: 10.1016/j.brs.2011.08.002. Epub 2011 Aug 26.

  PMID: 21962977 BACKGROUND

• Nitsche MA, Paulus W. Excitability changes induced in the human motor cortex by weak transcranial direct current stimulation. J Physiol. 2000 Sep 15;527 Pt 3(Pt 3):633-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7793.2000.t01-1-00633.x.

  PMID: 10990547 BACKGROUND

• Roche N, Lackmy A, Achache V, Bussel B, Katz R. Effects of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation over the leg motor area on lumbar spinal network excitability in healthy subjects. J Physiol. 2011 Jun 1;589(Pt 11):2813-26. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.2011.205161. Epub 2011 Apr 18.

  PMID: 21502292 BACKGROUND

• Roche N, Lackmy A, Achache V, Bussel B, Katz R. Effects of anodal tDCS on lumbar propriospinal system in healthy subjects. Clin Neurophysiol. 2012 May;123(5):1027-34. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2011.09.011. Epub 2011 Oct 20.

  PMID: 22014699 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Stroke

Interventions

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Cerebrovascular Disorders; Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Vascular Diseases; Cardiovascular Diseases

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Electric Stimulation Therapy; Therapeutics; Convulsive Therapy; Psychiatric Somatic Therapies; Behavioral Disciplines and Activities; Electroshock; Psychological Techniques

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: DOUBLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT, INVESTIGATOR
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 25, 2017
• First Posted: January 27, 2017
• Study Start: January 1, 2017
• Primary Completion: December 1, 2017
• Study Completion: August 1, 2018
• Last Updated: August 17, 2018

Record last verified: 2018-08

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

TH (1)