CClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT04333511Updated Oct 3, 2022

Brain Stimulation for Patients With Parkinson Disease

An interventional study of TPS (NEUROLITH) and Sham-TPS (NEUROLITH) in Parkinson Disease, sponsored by Storz Medical AG. Completed at 1 site in Austria. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2022-10-03.

Sponsored by Storz Medical AG · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Registered 3 months after the study started (first participant enrolled Dec 2019, registered Apr 2020).
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
30
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The aim of this crossover study is to investigate the efficacy of non-invasive brain stimulation (transcranial pulse stimulation; TPS) in adults with Parkinson Disease (PD). Participants will receive 6 sessions of TPS and Sham-TPS, respectively, in random order. Motor manifestations of PD and manual dexterity will be the primary outcome measures. Outcomes will be assessed immediately post-treatment.

02

Conditions studied

  • Parkinson Disease

Browse trials for

03

In context

Parkinson Disease

4,487 studies on the registry are indexed under Parkinson Disease; 1,082 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 30 is below the median of 40 across 3,294 interventional studies indexed under Parkinson Disease.

Browse Parkinson Disease studies →

Lead sponsor

Storz Medical AG is the lead sponsor of 7 studies on the registry; 1 is open to participants now.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

  • Clinically stable PD with fine skilled and/or gross motor deficits (e.g. right arm with a clinical force level >2)
  • Signed written informed consent
  • Monthly pregnancy test for women in childbearing years
  • Age >= 18 years

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Non-compliance with the protocol
  • Pregnant or breastfeeding women
  • Relevant intracerebral pathology unrelated to the disease (e.g. Brain tumor)
  • Hemophilia or other blood clotting disorders
  • Cortisone treatment within the last 6 weeks before first treatment
  • Thrombosis
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Crossover assignment
Masking
Double (Participant, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
30 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Sequence 1

    TPS first with crossover to Sham-TPS

    Device: TPS (NEUROLITH) · Device: Sham-TPS (NEUROLITH)

  • Experimental
    Sequence 2

    Sham-TPS first with crossover to TPS

    Device: TPS (NEUROLITH) · Device: Sham-TPS (NEUROLITH)

Interventions

  • DeviceTPS (NEUROLITH)

    6 treatments of TPS over 2 weeks

  • DeviceSham-TPS (NEUROLITH)

    6 treatments of Sham-TPS over 2 weeks

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Motor manifestations of Parkinson Disease

    Motor manifestations of Parkinson Disease will be rated by an examiner using the relevant subscale (section III) of the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). This scale has 14 different types of ratings, with many of these ratings done independently for the different limbs (tremor at rest, action tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia, speech, facial expression, arising from a chair, posture, gait, postural stability, body bradykinesia). Each of the ratings ranges from 0 (normal) to 4 (severe manifestation). The total score for this scale ranges from 0 to 108, the sum of scores from 27 observations (Perlmutter 2009).

    Time frame: Immediately post-treatment

  2. Motor manifestations of Parkinson Disease

    Motor manifestations of Parkinson Disease will be rated by an examiner using the relevant subscale (section III) of the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). This scale has 14 different types of ratings, with many of these ratings done independently for the different limbs (tremor at rest, action tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia, speech, facial expression, arising from a chair, posture, gait, postural stability, body bradykinesia). Each of the ratings ranges from 0 (normal) to 4 (severe manifestation). The total score for this scale ranges from 0 to 108, the sum of scores from 27 observations (Perlmutter 2009).

    Time frame: 1 month post-treatment

  3. Manual dexterity

    Deficits in fine skilled movements will be assessed by the coin rotation test (Foki et al., 2010). A coin hast to be flipped with the first 3 fingers of one hand as fast as possible for 30 seconds. The number of successful half rotations will be determined.

    Time frame: Immediately post-treatment

  4. Manual dexterity

    Deficits in fine skilled movements will be assessed by the coin rotation test (Foki et al., 2010). A coin hast to be flipped with the first 3 fingers of one hand as fast as possible for 30 seconds. The number of successful half rotations will be determined.

    Time frame: 1 month post-treatment

Secondary outcomes

  1. Activities of daily living (ADL)

    ADL will be assessed using the relevant subscale (section II) of the UPDRS. The scale consists of 13 items (speech, salivation, swallowing, handwriting, cutting food and handling utensils, dressing, hygiene, turning in bed and adjusting bedclothes, falling (unrelated to freezing), freezing when walking, walking, tremor, sensory complaints related to parkinsonism). The scoring range for each item is from 0 (normal) to 4 (severe impairment). The examiner asks the patient to describe their function separately in the ON and OFF state. The responses for each of the items are therefore scored twice. These ratings are done by the examiner based upon the responses of the patient or caregiver. The total score for subscale 2 ranges from 0 to 56 (Perlmutter 2009).

    Time frame: Immediately post-treatment

  2. Activities of daily living (ADL)

    ADL will be assessed using the relevant subscale (section II) of the UPDRS. The scale consists of 13 items (speech, salivation, swallowing, handwriting, cutting food and handling utensils, dressing, hygiene, turning in bed and adjusting bedclothes, falling (unrelated to freezing), freezing when walking, walking, tremor, sensory complaints related to parkinsonism). The scoring range for each item is from 0 (normal) to 4 (severe impairment). The examiner asks the patient to describe their function separately in the ON and OFF state. The responses for each of the items are therefore scored twice. These ratings are done by the examiner based upon the responses of the patient or caregiver. The total score for subscale 2 ranges from 0 to 56 (Perlmutter 2009).

    Time frame: 1 month post-treatment

  3. Anatomical and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (3 Tesla MRI)

    fMRI to analyze brain activation and connectivity. Anatomical data are also used for safety evaluations: to exclude bleeding or anatomical changes of the brain

    Time frame: Immediately post-treatment

  4. Somatosensory evoked EEG Potentials (SEPs)

    In selected participants, standard EEG / EP (Electroencephalography / Evoked Potential) data will be recorded for procedural optimizations, i.e. evaluation of most promising parameter settings (energy level and pulse frequency).

    Time frame: Immediately post-stimulation

  5. Bayer Activities of Daily Living Scale (B-ADL)

    The B-ADL scale is used to assess deficits in the performance of everyday activities. The scale's main target group is community dwelling patients who suffer from mild cognitive impairment or mild-to-moderate dementia. It comprises 25 items. Each item is scored from 1 (no difficulties at all) to 10 (always difficulties). The global B-ADL score is the arithmetic mean of all items.

    Time frame: Immediately post-treatment

  6. Bayer Activities of Daily Living Scale (B-ADL)

    The B-ADL scale is used to assess deficits in the performance of everyday activities. The scale's main target group is community dwelling patients who suffer from mild cognitive impairment or mild-to-moderate dementia. It comprises 25 items. Each item is scored from 1 (no difficulties at all) to 10 (always difficulties). The global B-ADL score is the arithmetic mean of all items.

    Time frame: 1 month post-treatment

  7. Leisure Behavior (FZV; German: Freizeitverhalten)

    The leisure behavior questionnaire has 25 items covering the following activities: information / entertainment, active movement, social interactions, creative activities, church / cultural / educational activities. The frequency of each activity is rated on a Likert-Scale from 0 (never) to 6 (daily). The total score (0-6) is calculated as the average of all 25 items.

    Time frame: Immediately post-treatment

  8. Leisure Behavior (FZV; German: Freizeitverhalten)

    The leisure behavior questionnaire has 25 items covering the following activities: information / entertainment, active movement, social interactions, creative activities, church / cultural / educational activities. The frequency of each activity is rated on a Likert-Scale from 0 (never) to 6 (daily). The total score (0-6) is calculated as the average of all 25 items.

    Time frame: 1 month post-treatment

  9. Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA)

    The MOCA is a screening instrument for assessing cognitive impairment. It is scored out of 30 (higher scores represent better cognition) and contains sections on visuospatial/executive, naming, memory, attention, language, abstraction, and orientation.

    Time frame: Immediately post-treatment

  10. Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA)

    The MOCA is a screening instrument for assessing cognitive impairment. It is scored out of 30 (higher scores represent better cognition) and contains sections on visuospatial/executive, naming, memory, attention, language, abstraction, and orientation.

    Time frame: 1 month post-treatment

  11. Geriatric Depression Scale - short form (GDS-15)

    he Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) is a questionnaire to assess depression in the elderly population. This scale generates self-evaluation scores concerning various aspects with relevance for the depressive disease (e.g. mood, drive, anxiety). The short form contains 15 items. The GDS-15 score ranges from 0 (normal state) to 15 (severe depression).

    Time frame: Immediately post-treatment

  12. Geriatric Depression Scale - short form (GDS-15)

    he Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) is a questionnaire to assess depression in the elderly population. This scale generates self-evaluation scores concerning various aspects with relevance for the depressive disease (e.g. mood, drive, anxiety). The short form contains 15 items. The GDS-15 score ranges from 0 (normal state) to 15 (severe depression).

    Time frame: 1 month post-treatment

  13. Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)

    BDI stands for the "Beck Depression Inventory". The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) measures the severity of depression (Beck 1961). It is a 21-item questionnaire for self-evaluation with 0-3 scores per item. The total score is the sum of all items. It ranges from 0 (normal state) to 63 (severe depression).

    Time frame: Immediately post-treatment

  14. Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)

    BDI stands for the "Beck Depression Inventory". The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) measures the severity of depression (Beck 1961). It is a 21-item questionnaire for self-evaluation with 0-3 scores per item. The total score is the sum of all items. It ranges from 0 (normal state) to 63 (severe depression).

    Time frame: 1 month post-treatment

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Medical University of Vienna
    Vienna, Austria
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Foki T, Pirker W, Klinger N, Geissler A, Rath J, Steinkellner T, Hoellinger I, Gruber S, Haubenberger D, Lehrner J, Pusswald G, Trattnig S, Auff E, Beisteiner R. FMRI correlates of apraxia in Parkinson's disease patients OFF medication. Exp Neurol. 2010 Oct;225(2):416-22. doi: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2010.07.019. Epub 2010 Jul 24. PubMed 20659452 ↗
  • Perlmutter JS. Assessment of Parkinson disease manifestations. Curr Protoc Neurosci. 2009 Oct;Chapter 10:Unit10.1. doi: 10.1002/0471142301.ns1001s49. PubMed 19802812 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Oct 3, 2022, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT04333511
Lead sponsor
Storz Medical AG
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Apr 3, 2020
Start date
Dec 2, 2019
Primary completion
Aug 3, 2022
Completion
Aug 3, 2022
Last update
Oct 3, 2022

Study contacts

Roland Beisteiner, Prof.
principal investigator · Medical University of Vienna

Oversight

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

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Sep 2022. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

Follow this study

Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.

Sign in to follow

Discussion

Questions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.

Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.

Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.

Start the discussion