Ultrasonic Debris Clearance to Promote Brain Resilience

NCT07573982 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 85009
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 15
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This pilot study will evaluate the safety, tolerability, and feasibility of Ultrasonic Debris Clearance (UDC), a noninvasive low-intensity focused ultrasound intervention, in amyloid-positive adults who are asymptomatic but at risk for Alzheimer's disease, or who have mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia. The study is designed to test whether repeated UDC sessions can be delivered safely and feasibly in this population, while also exploring efficacy via biomarkers and clinical measures.

Conditions

Alzheimer s Disease; MCI With Increased Risk for Alzheimer Disease

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Number of Participants with Treatment-Related Adverse Events

  All reported adverse events including clinically meaningful vital sign changes, laboratory test abnormalities, physical and cognitive symptoms, and new imaging abnormalities not present at baseline.

  baseline through 2 months post-treatment initiation (up to 3 months)

Secondary Outcomes (5)

• Changes from baseline in a tablet-based cognitive assessment

  baseline through 1 month post-treatment initiation (up to 3 months)

• Changes from baseline in the CDR-SB

  baseline, 1 month post-treatment initiation (up to 3 months)

• Changes from baseline in the ADASCog13 measure of cognition.

  baseline, 1 month post-treatment initiation (up to 3 months)

• Changes from baseline in the ADCS-MCI-ADL

  baseline, 1 month post-treatment initiation (up to 3 months)

• Changes from baseline in the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE)

  baseline, 1 month post-treatment initiation (up to 3 months)

Study Arms (2)

Active

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants will receive the UDC ultrasound protocol applied to their head for multiple sessions across one month.

Device: Ultrasonic Debris Clearance

Sham

SHAM COMPARATOR

Participants will receive a sham version of the UDC ultrasound protocol applied to their head for multiple sessions across one month.

Device: sham

Interventions

Ultrasonic Debris Clearance DEVICE

Ultrasonic debris clearance (UDC) delivered with a 250-kHz low-intensity transcranial ultrasound device for approximately 30 minutes per session across 8 sessions over 4 weeks. The intervention is designed to provide broad transcranial ultrasound exposure to promote glymphatic clearance, with real-time monitoring of transmitted power and matched study procedures including EEG, MRI, blood, and clinical assessments.

Active

sham DEVICE

Sham procedure matched to the active UDC intervention in schedule, session duration, device setup, and study procedures, but without transcranial ultrasound energy delivery while maintaining participant blinding.

Sham

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• Physician-reported amyloid positivity diagnosed by amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) OR historic CSF positivity of Abeta42, total tau, or phosphorylated tau OR positivity of plasma pTau-217.
• Age ≥ 18 years. No gender/sex, racial, or ethnic preference. Subjects greater than 60 years of age will be assumed to be non-pregnant based on age and expected post-menopausal status. Female subjects under the age of 60 will complete a two-step assessment of pregnancy status (a self-reported assessment of menopause that proceeds to a urine human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) test to confirm non-pregnancy, if the participant is not post-menopausal).
• CDR Scale score less than or equal to 1.0, consistent with mild, very mild, or no dementia.
• Ability and willingness to comply with the study procedures (six sessions sitting in a procedure chair for up to one hour for the procedure, with an ultrasound device placed on their scalp; additional time for the MRI assessment, blood draws, and cognitive assessments).
• Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document.

You may not qualify if:

• Any other comorbidity that would prevent adequate interpretation of the study results per the treatment team (e.g. congenital brain malformations without clinical importance) 2.4. Ultrasound attenuators along the ultrasound beam path (metal, air, or bulky calcification) including thick hair or related adornments that cannot be undone for the study (e.g. turbans, dreadlocks, hairweaves/wigs) that would prevent adequate ultrasound gel coupling of the device to the scalp or could trap air in the ultrasound beam path.
• Contraindications to MRI (unknown device, claustrophobia) or metallic hardware in the head that prevent adequate MRI visualization of the brain 2.6. Allergy or similar intolerance to the materials used for ultrasound device coupling (ultrasound gel, silicone) 2.7. Receipt of anti-amyloid monoclonal antibody therapy within 6 months prior to screening 2.8. Moderate or greater depressive symptoms at screening, defined as a Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) total score \>= 10.
• Clinically significant suicidal ideation or behavior as assessed by the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) 2.10. Clinically significant hematologic abnormalities, defined as hematocrit \< 35% for male or \< 32% for female, absolute neutrophil cell count \< 1500/uL, absolute lymphocyte count \< 900/uL, or platelet count \< 120,000/uL 2.11. Clinically significant hepatic, renal, respiratory, cardiovascular, or metabolic disease that increases risk or interferes with interpretation, defined as ALT/AST/ALP \> 1.5 ULN, or eGFR \< 50 mL/min/1.73m2, or recent MI/unstable angina/HF/cardiomyopathy within 6 months, 2.12. Significant bradycardia(\<50/min) or tachycardia (\>100/min) 2.13. Poorly controlled BP 2.14. Uncontrolled diabetes, defined as HbA1c \> 7.5 2.15. Active clinically significant infection or other systemic illness affecting the CNS

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Stanford University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Stanford University

Stanford, California, 94305, United States

Location

Study Officials

• Raag Airan, MD, PhD

  Stanford University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: QUADRUPLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT, CARE PROVIDER, INVESTIGATOR, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Professor of Radiology

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 1, 2026
• First Posted: May 7, 2026
• Study Start (Estimated): July 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): July 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): July 1, 2027
• Last Updated: May 7, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-05

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)