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CompletedNCT04161703Updated May 4, 2020

Effect of Focused Ultrasound on Abdominal and Intrahepatic Fat in Patients With Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

An interventional study of focused ultrasound, diet and exercise and diet and exercise in Fatty Liver, sponsored by Cairo University. Completed at 1 site in Egypt. Open to participants aged 30 Years to 45 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2020-05-04.

Sponsored by Cairo University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
50
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
30 Years to 45 Years
Sex
All
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Study summary

In recent years, a number of modalities have become available for the noninvasive reduction of adipose tissue. One of those is high intensity focused ultra sound (HIFU). The study aimed to discover the effect of Focused Ultrasound on localized abdominal fat size in fatty liver patients.

Methods: In total, 40 participants with a body mass index (BMI) 30-40 kg/m2, whose age ranged between 30 and 45 years, mild to moderate fatty liver (Liver to Spleen ratio \< 1), and with waist-hip ratio (WHR) greater than 0.8 for females and greater than 0.95 for males were included. The participants were randomly assigned to two groups, one group received focused ultrasound, diet, and exercises (the study group) and the other group received exercises, and diet only (the control group), respectively. Measures were abdominal subcutaneous fat volume, abdominal visceral fat volume, and liver to spleen ratio (L/S ratio) were measured at the beginning of the study and 3 months later.

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Conditions studied

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In context

Liver Diseases

2,081 studies on the registry are indexed under Liver Diseases; 390 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 50 is close to the median of 50 across 1,323 interventional studies indexed under Liver Diseases.

Browse Liver Diseases studies →

Lead sponsor

Cairo University is the lead sponsor of 4,780 studies on the registry; 1,427 are open to participants now.

Of its 36 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 5 (14%) have results posted.

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

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
30 Years to 45 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

participants with a body mass index (BMI) 30-40 kg/m2, whose age ranged between 30 and 45 years, mild to moderate fatty liver (Liver to Spleen ratio \< 1), and with waist hip ratio (WHR) greater than 0.8 for females and greater than 0.95 for males were included

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

abdominal hernias, severe diabetes or autoimmune diseases; patients with osteoporosis, phlebitis and thrombophlebitis; patients with metallic sections, articular prosthesis, intrauterine devices or a pacemaker; pregnant women; patients with a reduced nervous sensibility or with neurological pathologies; patients with obliterating arteriopathies and patients with important inflammatory processes or neoplastic diseases

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Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Triple (Participant, Investigator, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
50 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    focused ultrasound, diet and exercises

    Procedure: focused ultrasound, diet and exercise

  • Experimental
    diet and exercises

    Procedure: diet and exercise

Interventions

  • Procedurefocused ultrasound, diet and exercise

    Focused Ultra Sound using a device of Mabel6 DUO Ultra Cavitation Technology produced by DAEYANG MEDICAL CO., KOREA applied on the abdominal region which extending bilaterally from the line extending from mid-axilla to iliac crest, and above from center of diaphragm to the line extending between two iliac crests below. an aerobic exercise 3 to5 times/week for 12 weeks in the form of walking on treadmill for 30 minutes with moderate intensity a weight maintenance diet, which ranged from 1700 kcal to 2200 kcal/day, which was calculated in an individual basis for each subject according to his BMR, throughout the study period (12 weeks) to ensure that the reduction in the circumference was due to the treatment intervention rather than due to their weight reduction

  • Procedurediet and exercise

    weight maintenance diet, which ranged from 1700 kcal to 2200 kcal/day, which was calculated in an individual basis for each subject according to his BMR, throughout the study period (12 weeks) to ensure that the reduction in the circumference was due to the treatment intervention rather than due to their weight reduction. All subjects in both groups (A \& B) followed an aerobic exercise 3 to5 times/week for 12 weeks in the form of walking on treadmill for 30 minutes with moderate intensity (moderate intensity = 12-14 according to Borg Scale). The beginning period will be 15 mints and increased gradually until reaching 30 mints per time.

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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Abdominal subcutaneous and visceral fats volume measured by Computed tomography.

    The abdominal fat volume will be measured by a new advanced application which called "Synapse 3D Lung and Abdomen Analysis".

    Time frame: three months

Secondary outcomes

  1. Liver to Spleen ratio (L/S ratio)

    measurement of liver attenuation in Hounsfield units (LA) by multidetector CT scans of the abdomen at the level of the T12 to L1 intervertebral space and was used to estimate fatty liver (low LA=high fatty liver). The LA was determined by calculating the mean Hounsfield units of 3 regions of interest in the parenchyma of the right lobe of the liver

    Time frame: three months

Other outcomes

  1. height in meters and waist to hip ratio (WHR),

    Time frame: three months

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Study locations

1 site
  • Kasr Alaini
    Cairo, Egypt
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References and documents

Publications

  • Taha MM, Aneis YM, Mohamady HM, S A A, Elsayed SH. Effect of focused ultrasound cavitation augmented with aerobic exercise on abdominal and intrahepatic fat in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: A randomized controlled trial. PLoS One. 2021 Apr 28;16(4):e0250337. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0250337. eCollection 2021. PubMed 33909662 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on May 4, 2020, 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
NCT04161703
Lead sponsor
Cairo University
Responsible party
Mona Mohamed Taha (ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, Cairo University) — Principal investigator
First posted
Nov 13, 2019
Start date
Nov 20, 2019
Primary completion
Feb 20, 2020
Completion
Mar 20, 2020
Last update
May 4, 2020

Study contacts

Mona M Taha, PhD
principal investigator · Cairo University

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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