Low Intensity Focused Ultrasound Modulation of Thalamic Nuclei for Central Neuropathic Pain.
Thalamic LIFUP
1 other identifier
interventional
20
1 country
1
Brief Summary
LIFUP may have a modulatory effect on neuronal circuitry involved in pain, specifically when applied to the anterior thalamic nuclei, which is an important part of the pain circuit .Precise laboratory studies will reveal the indications under which LIFUP produces analgesia. The first step in evaluating LIFUP as a therapy for pain control is to determine whether LIFUP produces analgesia through suppression of the anterior thalamus. The primary objective is to evaluate the short-term analgesic effects of thalamic analgesia caused by LIFUP through:
- 1.Quantitative sensory testing (QST) and conditioned pain modulation testing (CPM) that allow the assessment of perceptual responses to quantifiable sensory stimuli, evaluated to characterize somatosensory function or dysfunction.
- 2.Short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire;
- 3.Brief Inventory Form, which includes pain severity index (average of questions 3-6) and pain interference with daily activities (average of questions 9A-9G, ranging from 0 to 70, where 70 indicates maximum possible pain interference);
- 4.Douleur Neuropathique-4 to assess neuropathic pain, being positive for scores ≥4;
- 5.Neuropathic Pain Symptom Inventory (NPSI), which provides characterization of neuropathic pain symptoms in 5 domains (superficial and deep) spontaneous pain, paroxysmal pain, evoked pain and paresthesia.
- 6.Hamilton D + A
- 7.Medication use (Brief Pain Inventory)
- 8.Interference with daily activities (Brief Pain Inventory, quantified by Medication Quantification Scale)
- 9.Cognition - Montreal Cognitive Assessment (Mo CA)5 Adverse events
- 10.Blinding assessment
- 11.Variation in Global Impression of Change (CGI)
Trial Health
Trial Health Score
Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach
participants targeted
Target at P25-P50 for phase_1
Started Nov 2024
1 active site
Health score is calculated from publicly available data and should be used for screening purposes only.
Trial Relationships
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Study Timeline
Key milestones and dates
Study Start
First participant enrolled
November 19, 2024
CompletedFirst Submitted
Initial submission to the registry
April 10, 2025
CompletedFirst Posted
Study publicly available on registry
May 18, 2025
CompletedPrimary Completion
Last participant's last visit for primary outcome
December 31, 2025
CompletedStudy Completion
Last participant's last visit for all outcomes
April 25, 2026
CompletedMay 18, 2025
May 1, 2025
1.1 years
April 10, 2025
May 15, 2025
Conditions
Keywords
Outcome Measures
Primary Outcomes (1)
Pain assessments
Pain scores in Visual Analog Scale has a numeric scoring that measures the intensity of pain from a scale of 1 to 10. The higher numeric scoring of the scale suggests severity and worse pain sensations. The scale will be analyzed before and after application of low-intensity pulsed ultrasound on the anterior thalamus.
Before and immediately after intervention. Also 4 hours, 24 hours, 10 days and 28 days after intervention.
Secondary Outcomes (1)
Somatosensory system analysis
Before intervention as well as immediately after and 28 days after intervention
Other Outcomes (4)
Conditioned Pain Modulation
Before and immediately after intervention and after 28 days after intervention.
Neuropathic pain assessment
Before intervention as well as immediately after and 28 days after intervention
Depression and Anxiety analysis
Before and after 28 days of intervention.
- +1 more other outcomes
Study Arms (2)
Active
ACTIVE COMPARATORPatients receiveing Thalamic LIFUP intervention
Sham
SHAM COMPARATORPatients receiveing Thalamic Sham intervention
Interventions
Eligibility Criteria
You may qualify if:
- Male or female more than 18 years old;
- Persistent presence of pain from braquial plexopathy injury for more than 3 months with an average of pain scoring of four or more points in numeric verbal scale (refractory to treatments).
You may not qualify if:
- history of uncontrolled epilepsy
- history of depression
- surgery or hospitalizations in the last 6 months
- presence of metal brain implants
- history of alcohol or drug addiction
- pregnancy
- history of loss of consciousness lasting more than 15 minutes
Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.
Sponsors & Collaborators
Study Sites (1)
Neurology Department HCFMUSP
São Paulo, São Paulo, 05403000, Brazil
Related Publications (12)
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PMID: 26845524BACKGROUNDFinnerup NB, Haroutounian S, Kamerman P, Baron R, Bennett DLH, Bouhassira D, Cruccu G, Freeman R, Hansson P, Nurmikko T, Raja SN, Rice ASC, Serra J, Smith BH, Treede RD, Jensen TS. Neuropathic pain: an updated grading system for research and clinical practice. Pain. 2016 Aug;157(8):1599-1606. doi: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000000492.
PMID: 27115670BACKGROUNDPeyron R, Laurent B, Garcia-Larrea L. Functional imaging of brain responses to pain. A review and meta-analysis (2000). Neurophysiol Clin. 2000 Oct;30(5):263-88. doi: 10.1016/s0987-7053(00)00227-6.
PMID: 11126640BACKGROUNDde Oliveira RA, de Andrade DC, Machado AG, Teixeira MJ. Central poststroke pain: somatosensory abnormalities and the presence of associated myofascial pain syndrome. BMC Neurol. 2012 Sep 11;12:89. doi: 10.1186/1471-2377-12-89.
PMID: 22966989BACKGROUNDHosomi K, Shimokawa T, Ikoma K, Nakamura Y, Sugiyama K, Ugawa Y, Uozumi T, Yamamoto T, Saitoh Y. Daily repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation of primary motor cortex for neuropathic pain: a randomized, multicenter, double-blind, crossover, sham-controlled trial. Pain. 2013 Jul;154(7):1065-72. doi: 10.1016/j.pain.2013.03.016. Epub 2013 Mar 15.
PMID: 23623156BACKGROUNDKim JS, Bashford G, Murphy KT, Martin A, Dror V, Cheung R. Safety and efficacy of pregabalin in patients with central post-stroke pain. Pain. 2011 May;152(5):1018-1023. doi: 10.1016/j.pain.2010.12.023. Epub 2011 Feb 12.
PMID: 21316855BACKGROUNDJungehulsing GJ, Israel H, Safar N, Taskin B, Nolte CH, Brunecker P, Wernecke KD, Villringer A. Levetiracetam in patients with central neuropathic post-stroke pain--a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Eur J Neurol. 2013 Feb;20(2):331-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-1331.2012.03857.x. Epub 2012 Aug 27.
PMID: 22925226BACKGROUNDSiddall PJ, McClelland JM, Rutkowski SB, Cousins MJ. A longitudinal study of the prevalence and characteristics of pain in the first 5 years following spinal cord injury. Pain. 2003 Jun;103(3):249-257. doi: 10.1016/S0304-3959(02)00452-9.
PMID: 12791431BACKGROUNDVartiainen N, Perchet C, Magnin M, Creac'h C, Convers P, Nighoghossian N, Mauguiere F, Peyron R, Garcia-Larrea L. Thalamic pain: anatomical and physiological indices of prediction. Brain. 2016 Mar;139(Pt 3):708-22. doi: 10.1093/brain/awv389. Epub 2016 Feb 8.
PMID: 26912644BACKGROUND
Study Design
- Study Type
- interventional
- Phase
- phase 1
- Allocation
- RANDOMIZED
- Masking
- QUADRUPLE
- Who Masked
- PARTICIPANT, CARE PROVIDER, INVESTIGATOR, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
- Purpose
- TREATMENT
- Intervention Model
- PARALLEL
- Sponsor Type
- OTHER
- Responsible Party
- PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
- PI Title
- Principal Investigator
Study Record Dates
First Submitted
April 10, 2025
First Posted
May 18, 2025
Study Start
November 19, 2024
Primary Completion
December 31, 2025
Study Completion
April 25, 2026
Last Updated
May 18, 2025
Record last verified: 2025-05