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Modulation Effect of tACS on Chronic Low Back Pain

RecruitingPhase 2NCT06568198
View the official record on ClinicalTrials.gov

Recruiting status changes often. Contact the study team listed on ClinicalTrials.gov, and talk to your doctor before joining a study.

This study has no listed site in Canada in this snapshot. It is included as part of the worldwide chronic pain corpus.

Brief summary (from the registry)

Investigating the modulation effect of tACS

Study details

Official title
Modulation Effect of Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS) on Chronic Low Back Pain
Interventions
  • Device: Real tACS
  • Device: Sham tACS
Sponsor
Massachusetts General Hospital
Collaborators
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Start date
2025-08-25
Primary completion
2028-02-01
Sex
All
Age range
from 18 Years to 60 Years
Results posted
No results posted in this snapshot
Countries
United States
Total sites listed
1

Eligibility criteria

Show eligibility criteria (verbatim from the registry)
Inclusion Criteria: 1. Volunteers 18-60 years of age 2. Meet the Classification Criteria of the chronic LBP (having low back pain for more than 6 months) 3. At least 4/10 clinical pain on the 0-10 LBP NRS 4. At least a 10th grade English-reading level; English can be a second language provided that the patients understand all questions used in the assessment measures 5. Meeting the MRI / MEG / EEG screening criteria Exclusion Criteria: 1. Specific causes of back pain (eg, cancer, fractures, spinal stenosis, infections) 2. Complicated back problems (eg, prior back surgery, medicolegal issues) 3. The intent to undergo surgery during the time of involvement in the study 4. History of cardiac, respiratory, or nervous system disease that, in the investigator's judgment, precludes participation in the study because of a heightened potential for adverse outcome (for example: asthma or claustrophobia) 5. Presence of any contraindications to MRI scanning (for example: cardiac pacemaker, metal implants, claustrophobia, pregnancy, cannot lie still in fMRI scanner) 6. Concomitant autoimmune, chronic, inflammatory, neoplastic, and psychiatric diseases 7. Pregnant or lactating 8. Conditions making study participation difficult (e.g., paralysis, psychoses, or other severe psychological problems as per the judgment of a study investigator during Session 1) 9. Active substance abuse disorders (based on subject self-report and drug test) 10. Regular use of pain medication such as opioids, nonopioid analgesics, coanalgesics, corticosteroids, or immunomodulatory agents 11. Any medical conditions, such as peripheral neuropathy, that could affect the results of QST 12. Current use of psychotropic medication

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov (US National Library of Medicine), snapshot October 2026. Check the registry for current recruiting status. Record: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06568198