Effects of Stimulation Patterns of Deep Brain Stimulation
For patients and families
In plain language
An automatic summary of structured registry data. It is an orientation aid, not a substitute for the official protocol or a physician assessment.
- What is being studied
- The protocol lists: Therapeutic Stimulation Patterns, Symptogenic Stimulation Patterns.
- Who it may be relevant to
- Registry conditions: Parkinson Disease, Essential Tremor, Multiple Sclerosis, Dystonia. Basic parameters: 21 years — 80 years · All.
- What needs checking
- Age, condition and sex are only basic indicators. Prior treatment, laboratory values and other mandatory requirements appear in the eligibility criteria below.
- Where it takes place
- United States
- Next step
- Save the trial, show it to the treating physician, and confirm current recruitment with the study center. Costs, documents and travel →
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Overview
The purpose of this study is to measure the effects of non-regular temporal patterns of deep brain stimulation (DBS) on motor symptoms and neural activity in persons with Parkinson's disease (PD), essential tremor (ET), dystonia or multiple sclerosis (MS). These data will guide the design of novel stimulation patterns that may lead to more effective and reliable treatment with DBS. These data will also enable evaluation of current hypotheses on the mechanisms of action of DBS. Improving our understanding of the mechanisms of action of DBS may lead to full development of DBS as a treatment for Parkinson's disease and may lead to future applications of DBS.
Detailed description
This study will be conducted in the operating rooms at Duke University Medical Center, Emory University Hospital, University of Florida Shands Hospital or the UF Health Florida Surgical Center. The study will be performed during surgery on subjects who are undergoing implantation of the deep brain stimulation (DBS) system, or on subjects who are receiving surgical replacement of the implanted pulse generator (IPG) due to depleted batteries.
Subjects will receive temporary sterile extensions to the DBS electrode. These temporary extensions will connect to a stimulation and recording system and allow recording of neural activity. Over the course of \~45 minutes different non-regular temporal patterns of stimulation will be delivered unilaterally and the effects on neural activity and movement disorder symptoms will be measured. The stimulus waveform will be a charge-balanced biphasic pulse, with charge restricted to values below the limit set by the DBS IPG manufacturer, 30 μC/cm². After the study is completed, the temporary extensions will be removed, and the ordinary clinical conduct of the procedure will continue for treatment of the patient's movement disorder.
Tremor will be measured using an accelerometer in subjects with essential tremor (ET), multiple sclerosis (MS) and tremor-dominant Parkinson's disease (PD). Bradykinesia will be measured using a finger-tapping task on a computer mouse in subjects with Parkinson's disease who do not have dominant tremor symptoms. Subjects will be familiarized with the motor symptom evaluation tasks before surgery, and baseline measurements of tremor or bradykinesia may be recorded. Further, they may be asked to discontinue use of anti-parkinsonian and/or anti-tremor medications overnight prior to the study, to reduce variability of motor symptoms due to the time course of medications.
No general anesthesia will be given to subjects during surgery, and the procedure will be performed under local anesthesia to allow subjects to perform the tasks required in this study. Further, no sedation will be given to subjects receiving a replacement IPG, which can cause minor discomfort or anxiety in some patients. Subjects undergoing surgery for electrode implantation will receive monitored anesthesia care (MAC), in which sedation will be administered as needed, such that subjects are still responsive and pathological motor symptoms (tremor or bradykinesia) are present.
Following surgery, the subject's pre-operative MRI and post-operative high-resolution CT scans may be used to determine the location of DBS electrode contacts within the brain. However, participation in the study will not modify imaging procedures needed for standard care, and placement of the electrode during DBS implant surgery will not be altered by the research study.
There will be no additional costs to subjects as a result of being in this study. Additional operating room costs will be covered by institutional and/or grant resources.
Interventions
- Procedure Therapeutic Stimulation Patterns
During deep brain stimulation (DBS) electrode implantation or implanted pulse generator (IPG) replacement surgery, different stimulation patterns that are designed to suppress oscillatory neural activity at theta- or beta-frequencies will be delivered in randomized order, and the subject will be blinded to the patterns. Neural activity and/or motor symptoms (tremor and/or bradykinesia) will be measured in response to DBS. Measurements will be made during 2- to 8-minute trials, in which stimulati - Procedure Symptogenic Stimulation Patterns
During deep brain stimulation (DBS) electrode implantation or implanted pulse generator (IPG) replacement surgery, different stimulation patterns that are designed to exacerbate oscillatory neural activity at theta- or beta-frequencies will be delivered in randomized order, and the subject will be blinded to the patterns. Neural activity and/or motor symptoms (tremor and/or bradykinesia) will be measured in response to DBS. Measurements will be made during 2- to 8-minute trials, in which stimula
Primary outcome measures
- Tremor Accelerometry [Time frame: Day 1]
- Bradykinesia Finger Tapping [Time frame: Day 1]
- Neural Activity [Time frame: Day 1]
Secondary outcome measures (1)
- Electrode Location [Time frame: Day 1]
Eligibility criteria
Inclusion criteria
- Diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease (PD), Essential Tremor (ET) dystonia or Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
- Scheduled to undergo Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) electrode implant, IPG implant or implanted pulse generator (IPG) replacement surgery
- Neurologically stable
- Able to understand the study and consent form
Exclusion criteria
- Inability to execute the motor tasks during the study
- Inability to tolerate withholding anti-parkinsonian and/or anti-tremor medications
- Clinically ineffective DBS
Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.
Healthy volunteers: No
Study design
- Allocation
- Non-randomized
- Model
- Parallel assignment
- Masking
- Single blind
- Primary purpose
- Basic science
Study locations
United States · 3 centers
- University of Florida — Gainesville
- Emory University — Atlanta
- Duke University — Durham
Identifiers
NCT: NCT02553525 · Pro00074235 · R37NS040894