ClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT01393444Updated Dec 12, 2016Results posted

ECoG Direct Brain Interface for Individuals With Upper Limb Paralysis

An interventional study of Implantation of ECoG sensors on the brain surface in Tetraplegia, Spinal Cord Injury and Brachial Plexus Injury, sponsored by University of Pittsburgh. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 70 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2016-12-12.

Sponsored by University of Pittsburgh · Not applicable and Interventional

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
6
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years to 70 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The purpose of this research study is to demonstrate that individuals with upper limb paralysis due to spinal cord injury, brachial plexus injury, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and brain stem stroke can successfully achieve direct brain control of assistive devices using an electrocorticography (ECoG)-based brain computer interface system.

Read the detailed description

Brain-computer interface (BCI) technology aims to establish a direct link for transmitting information between the brain and external devices, offering a natural and rich control signal for prosthetic hands or functional electrical stimulators (FES) to re-animate paralyzed hands. This study focuses on an ECoG-based BCI system. ECoG measures brain activity using electrodes implanted on the surface of the brain. Each participant will undergo testing of the ECoG direct brain interface for up to 29 days. Participants will learn to control computer cursors, virtual reality environments, and assistive devices such as hand orthoses and functional electrical stimulators using neural activity recorded with the ECoG sensor.

02

Conditions studied

  • Tetraplegia
  • Spinal Cord Injury
  • Brachial Plexus Injury
  • Muscular Dystrophy
  • ALS
  • Brainstem Stroke

Keywords

  • Electrocorticography
  • Tetraplegia
  • Spinal cord injury
  • Brainstem stroke
  • Neuroprosthetic
  • Brain-computer interface
  • Direct brain interface
  • Neural activity
  • Motor cortex
03

In context

Quadriplegia

222 studies on the registry are indexed under Quadriplegia; 75 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 6 is below the median of 15 across 193 interventional studies indexed under Quadriplegia.

Browse Quadriplegia studies →

Lead sponsor

University of Pittsburgh is the lead sponsor of 1,419 studies on the registry; 168 are open to participants now.

Of its 9 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 4 (44%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 70 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Limited or no ability to use both hands due to cervical spinal cord injury, brachial plexus injury, brainstem stroke, muscular dystrophy, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or other motor neuron diseases
  • At least 1 year post-injury
  • Live within 1 hour of the University of Pittsburgh or willing to stay in Pittsburgh while the ECoG electrode is implanted (up to 29 days)
  • Additional inclusion criteria must also be reviewed

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Certain implanted devices
  • Presence of other serious disease or disorder that could affect ability to participate in this study
  • Additional exclusion criteria must also be reviewed
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
6 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Direct Brain Interface Users

    All participants enrolled in the study will undergo "Implantation of ECoG sensors on the brain surface" to record neural activity. There is no control group. There are no other arms.

    Device: Implantation of ECoG sensors on the brain surface

Interventions

  • DeviceImplantation of ECoG sensors on the brain surface

    One ECoG sensor will be implanted over the motor cortex of study participants

    Also known as: brain-computer interface, neuroprosthetic

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Number of Participants Able to Successfully Control of a Variety of External Devices Using Neural Data Recorded With ECoG

    Participants will attempt to control devices such as computer cursors, virtual reality environments and assistive devices such as hand orthoses or surface functional electrical stimulators using their brain activity recorded through ECoG.

    Time frame: Up to 29 days of device implantation

Secondary outcomes

  1. Number of Participants Able to Achieve Direct Brain Control of Assistive Devices Using an Electrocorticography (ECoG)-Based Brain-computer Interface System

    Participants will be asked to perform, attempt, or imagine performing motor tasks while their brain activity is recorded in order to observe the changes in neural activity during each task.

    Time frame: Up to 29 days of device implantation

07

Results

Posted Dec 12, 2016

Participant flow

Recruitment included interfacing with local research registry participants, clinical SCI physicians, MDS and ALS groups, and attending conferences attended by eligibility populations

Participant flow — Overall Study
MilestoneDirect Brain Interface Users
Started6
First (1st implanted) subject enrolled1
Second subject enrolled1
Third subject enrolled1
Fourth subject enrolled1
Fifth (2nd implanted) subject enrolled1
Sixth (3rd implanted) subject1
Completed3
Not completed3
Withdrew: Withdrawal by subject1
Withdrew: Determined ineligible during screening.2

Outcome measures

PrimaryNumber of Participants Able to Successfully Control of a Variety of External Devices Using Neural Data Recorded With ECoG

Participants will attempt to control devices such as computer cursors, virtual reality environments and assistive devices such as hand orthoses or surface functional electrical stimulators using their brain activity recorded through ECoG.

Time frame:
Up to 29 days of device implantation
Reported as:
Number · participants
Number of Participants Able to Successfully Control of a Variety of External Devices Using Neural Data Recorded With ECoG
participantsDirect Brain Interface Users
Number of Participants Able to Successfully Control of a Variety of External Devices Using Neural Data Recorded With ECoG3
SecondaryNumber of Participants Able to Achieve Direct Brain Control of Assistive Devices Using an Electrocorticography (ECoG)-Based Brain-computer Interface System

Participants will be asked to perform, attempt, or imagine performing motor tasks while their brain activity is recorded in order to observe the changes in neural activity during each task.

Time frame:
Up to 29 days of device implantation
Reported as:
Number · participants
Number of Participants Able to Achieve Direct Brain Control of Assistive Devices Using an Electrocorticography (ECoG)-Based Brain-computer Interface System
participantsDirect Brain Interface Users
Number of Participants Able to Achieve Direct Brain Control of Assistive Devices Using an Electrocorticography (ECoG)-Based Brain-computer Interface System3

Adverse events

Collected over 6 months. Non-serious events are listed at a 0% frequency threshold.

Adverse event summary by group
GroupDeathsSeriousOther
Direct Brain Interface Users—0/6 (0%)1/6 (16.7%)
Most frequent other events
Most frequent other events
EventDirect Brain Interface Users
Neck pain following implant surgeryMusculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders1/6

Baseline characteristics

All individuals were English speaking, with a disability of at least one hand/arm, but no other health issues which would interfere with or be made worse by study participation.

Age, Categorical
Age, Categorical(Participants)Direct Brain Interface Users
<=18 years0
Between 18 and 65 years6
>=65 years0
Age, Continuous
Age, Continuous(years)Direct Brain Interface Users
Mean39 (20 to 54)
Sex: Female, Male
Sex: Female, Male(Participants)Direct Brain Interface Users
Female1
Male5
Region of Enrollment
Region of Enrollment(participants)Direct Brain Interface Users
United States6
08

Study locations

1 site
  • University of Pittsburgh
    Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, United States
09

References and documents

Publications

  • Degenhart AD, Hiremath SV, Yang Y, Foldes S, Collinger JL, Boninger M, Tyler-Kabara EC, Wang W. Remapping cortical modulation for electrocorticographic brain-computer interfaces: a somatotopy-based approach in individuals with upper-limb paralysis. J Neural Eng. 2018 Apr;15(2):026021. doi: 10.1088/1741-2552/aa9bfb. PubMed 29160240 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Yes — Study sponsors, as well as the FDA, will have access to research data and documents in order to monitor the integrity of the study.

10

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
Not marked actual or estimatedDates not marked actual or estimated

The record gives a start of May 2011, a primary completion of Apr 2015 and a completion of Apr 2015. It does not say whether these dates are actual or estimated.

Results were first posted in Dec 2016, 1 year 8 months after primary completion.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Jul 11, 2011
First posted
Jul 13, 2011
Start
May 2011
Primary completionActual
Apr 2015
CompletionActual
Apr 2015
Results first posted
Dec 12, 2016
Last update
Dec 12, 2016
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Dec 12, 2016, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT01393444
Responsible party
Jennifer Collinger, PhD (Assistant Professor, University of Pittsburgh) — Principal investigator
First posted
Jul 13, 2011
Start date
May 2011
Primary completion
Apr 2015
Completion
Apr 2015
Results posted
Dec 12, 2016
Last update
Dec 12, 2016

Study contacts

Jennifer L Collinger, PhD
principal investigator · University of Pittsburgh

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Oct 2016. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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