ClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT04573699Updated Jun 18, 2026

Cardiac Neuromodulation for Heart Failure

An observational study in Heart Failure NYHA Class II and Heart Failure NYHA Class III, sponsored by BackBeat Medical Inc. Completed at 1 site in Poland. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-06-18.

Sponsored by BackBeat Medical Inc · Observational

Study type
Observational
Model
Case-only
Time perspective
Other
Enrollment
34
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This investigation will evaluate the ability of the Moderato® System to safely and effectively deliver CNT, to reduce sympathetic activity in heart failure patients

Read the detailed description

This will be a single center, non-randomized observational study. The Moderato® System is approved for marketing in Europe (has a CE mark) for the treatment of high blood pressure in patients requiring standard cardiac pacing. The therapy delivered by the Moderato® System is referred to as CNT (Cardiac Neuromodulation Therapy). Heart failure patients is a population for which the Moderato® device is currently not indicated.

Subjects requiring an implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) implantation or replacement and meeting study inclusion and exclusion criteria will be eligible to participate in the study. The study procedure will take place during the ICD implantation (or replacement).

The whole procedure will be performed according to standard of care for ICD implantations (or replacements) including periprocedural prophylactic antibiotics prophylactic. To reduce the time of wound exposure, the setup of system for invasive measurements will be done before the ICD implant (or replacement) procedure begins.

The groin area will be prepared and draped. After applying local anesthesia, a 7Fr sheath will be inserted into the femoral artery. A small dose of heparin (\~5000 units) will be administered intravenously to prevent formation of blood clots. Under fluoroscopic guidance, a standard conductance catheter (CD Leycom CA-71103-PL, CE marked) will be advanced into the left ventricle.

The arterial line will be used to measure arterial pressure. This completes the measuring system setup.

Then, ICD right atrial lead and right ventricular lead will be implanted in standard positions according to standard institutional practices.

The leads will be connected to a BackBeat Moderato® System IPG, externally to the patient using a single use, sterile Pacing System Analyzer (PSA) cable provided by the hospital. The Moderato® IPG, approved for chronic CNT delivery in hypertensive patients, will function in this trial as a temporary external CNT signal generator for acute application of the therapy.

A range of CNT signal parameters will be used to assess the effect on sympathetic activity. Ventricular pressure and volume readings from the conductance catheter and arterial pressure readings will be recorded and analyzed to assess the effect of CNT signals on cardiac function, sympathetic activity and blood pressure. The effects of CNT signal over a range of parameter settings will be studied over a period of time no longer than one hour.

In this study, none of the Moderato® system components will be in contact with the patient. The Moderato® IPG will be used solely as an external CNT signal generator and deliver signals to the patient through the PSA cable and the ICD leads.

When CNT signal activation is complete, data recording will be stopped, the conductance catheter will be removed, the cable connecting the IPG to the leads disconnected, and ICD implantation will proceed normally.

02

Conditions studied

  • Heart Failure NYHA Class II
  • Heart Failure NYHA Class III

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03

In context

Heart Failure

6,331 studies on the registry are indexed under Heart Failure; 1,396 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 34 is below the median of 200 across 1,983 observational studies indexed under Heart Failure.

Browse Heart Failure studies →

Lead sponsor

BackBeat Medical Inc is the lead sponsor of 12 studies on the registry; 2 are 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
No
Sampling method
Non-probability sample

Study population

These are Heart Failure subjects willing to participate in a short acute clinical study during the implantation or replacement of a single chamber ICD.

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

  1. Subject is ≥ 18 years of age
  2. Subject has a primary indication and is scheduled for ICD implantation or replacement
  3. Subject has heart failure Class II or III

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Subject is to receive a single chamber defibrillator
  2. Subject has an of 25% or less
  3. Subject's systolic blood pressure is less than 120 mm Hg on the day of implant
  4. Subject has decompensated heart failure
  5. Subject has significant (>2+) mitral regurgitation, aortic regurgitation or aortic stenosis.
  6. Subject has permanent atrial fibrillation
  7. Subject has atrial fibrillation on the day of the study.
  8. Subject has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, restrictive cardiomyopathy or interventricular septal thickness ≥15 mm
  9. Subject has a history of prior neurological events (stroke or ) within the past year or a neurological event (stroke or TIA) at any prior time that has resulted in residual neurologic deficit.
  10. Subject has a history of autonomic dysfunction
  11. Women who are pregnant or breast-feeding
  12. Subject cannot or is unwilling to provide .
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(4)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

NYHA class (heart failure)

The New York Heart Association’s four classes of how much heart failure limits physical activity.

I
No limits: ordinary activity causes no undue tiredness or breathlessness.
II
Slight limits: comfortable at rest, ordinary activity causes symptoms.
III
Marked limits: comfortable at rest, less than ordinary activity causes symptoms.
IV
Symptoms even at rest; any activity makes them worse.

Studies set their own limit — many outside heart failure leave out class III–IV, while heart failure studies may ask for a particular class. Check the class this study names.

LVEF (left ventricular ejection fraction)

The share of blood the heart’s main pumping chamber (the left ventricle) pushes out with each beat, measured by an echocardiogram (heart ultrasound) or a MUGA scan. About 50–70% is normal.

TIA (transient ischaemic attack)

A “mini-stroke”: temporary stroke-like symptoms caused by reduced blood flow to part of the brain, spinal cord or eye, without signs of a new stroke on a scan.

Stroke symptoms need emergency care at once, even if they go away.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

05

Study design

Observational model
Case-only
Time perspective
Other
Enrollment
34 participants (actual)
Patient registry
No

Interventions

  • DeviceCNT-HF

    A modified CNT, will be delivered as a pacing sequence able to acutely influence sympathetic tone.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Change in Arterial Elastance

    Arterial elastance is reduced when sympathetic activity is reduced, an indication of a relaxed peripheral resistance.

    Time frame: Immediate, derived form ongoing Pressure Volume changes in the Left ventricle

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Silesian Center for Heart Diseases
    Zabrze, 41-800, Poland
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Dickstein K, Cohen-Solal A, Filippatos G, McMurray JJ, Ponikowski P, Poole-Wilson PA, Stromberg A, van Veldhuisen DJ, Atar D, Hoes AW, Keren A, Mebazaa A, Nieminen M, Priori SG, Swedberg K; ESC Committee for Practice Guidelines (CPG). ESC guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic heart failure 2008: the Task Force for the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic heart failure 2008 of the European Society of Cardiology. Developed in collaboration with the Heart Failure Association of the ESC (HFA) and endorsed by the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM). Eur J Heart Fail. 2008 Oct;10(10):933-89. doi: 10.1016/j.ejheart.2008.08.005. Epub 2008 Sep 16. No abstract available. PubMed 18826876 ↗
  • Roger VL, Go AS, Lloyd-Jones DM, Benjamin EJ, Berry JD, Borden WB, Bravata DM, Dai S, Ford ES, Fox CS, Fullerton HJ, Gillespie C, Hailpern SM, Heit JA, Howard VJ, Kissela BM, Kittner SJ, Lackland DT, Lichtman JH, Lisabeth LD, Makuc DM, Marcus GM, Marelli A, Matchar DB, Moy CS, Mozaffarian D, Mussolino ME, Nichol G, Paynter NP, Soliman EZ, Sorlie PD, Sotoodehnia N, Turan TN, Virani SS, Wong ND, Woo D, Turner MB; American Heart Association Statistics Committee and Stroke Statistics Subcommittee. Executive summary: heart disease and stroke statistics--2012 update: a report from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2012 Jan 3;125(1):188-97. doi: 10.1161/CIR.0b013e3182456d46. No abstract available. PubMed 22215894 ↗
  • van Bilsen M, Patel HC, Bauersachs J, Bohm M, Borggrefe M, Brutsaert D, Coats AJS, de Boer RA, de Keulenaer GW, Filippatos GS, Floras J, Grassi G, Jankowska EA, Kornet L, Lunde IG, Maack C, Mahfoud F, Pollesello P, Ponikowski P, Ruschitzka F, Sabbah HN, Schultz HD, Seferovic P, Slart RHJA, Taggart P, Tocchetti CG, Van Laake LW, Zannad F, Heymans S, Lyon AR. The autonomic nervous system as a therapeutic target in heart failure: a scientific position statement from the Translational Research Committee of the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology. Eur J Heart Fail. 2017 Nov;19(11):1361-1378. doi: 10.1002/ejhf.921. Epub 2017 Sep 26. PubMed 28949064 ↗
09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jun 18, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT04573699
Lead sponsor
BackBeat Medical Inc
Collaborators
CD Leycom
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Oct 5, 2020
Start date
Dec 15, 2020
Primary completion
Dec 15, 2022
Completion
Dec 15, 2022
Last update
Jun 18, 2026

Study contacts

Zbigniew Kalarus, Prof. MD Ph.D
principal investigator · Silesian Center for Heart Diseases

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
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 Jun 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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