An interventional study of ExAblate 4000 Type 2.1 in Psychostimulant Use Disorder(PUD), sponsored by Korea University Anam Hospital. Recruiting at 1 site in South Korea. Open to participants aged 19 Years to 60 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-08-24.
Sponsored by Korea University Anam Hospital · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
The purpose of this clinical trial is to evaluate the initial safety and efficacy of the ExAblate Model 4000 Type 2.1 surgical device for nucleus accumbens (NAc) neuromodulation in patients with psychostimulant use disorder (PUD).
This prospective, single-center, single-arm, open-label feasibility trial is designed to evaluate the safety and preliminary efficacy of nucleus accumbens (NAc)-targeted neuromodulation using the ExAblate 4000 Type 2.1 system in patients with psychostimulant use disorder (PUD).
Potential participants with PUD who are receiving standard treatment for substance use disorder will be informed about the study and invited to participate. Individuals who voluntarily provide written informed consent will undergo screening assessments to determine eligibility according to the predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Eligible participants will then be enrolled in the study.
At Visit 2, participants will undergo focused ultrasound neuromodulation targeting the bilateral NAc using the ExAblate 4000 Type 2.1 system. The procedure will be performed under magnetic resonance imaging guidance. Following completion of the procedure, participants will be clinically observed for at least 2 hours and assessed for any procedure- or device-related adverse events. Participants who discontinue the study because of an adverse event will continue to be followed as clinically appropriate until the event has resolved or stabilized, or until the investigator determines that further follow-up is no longer necessary.
Participants will return for follow-up assessments at Visit 3 (Day 7 ± 2), Visit 4 (Day 30 ± 7), Visit 5 (Day 90 ± 7), and Visit 6 (Day 180 ± 7) after the focused ultrasound procedure. Safety assessments will include monitoring for adverse events and clinically relevant neurological or medical changes. Efficacy assessments will include urine toxicology testing for psychostimulant and illicit drug use, assessment of time to relapse, evaluation of substance craving, psychiatric and behavioral assessments related to mood, anxiety, attention, and impulsivity, and assessment of cognitive function. Functional magnetic resonance imaging, including a drug-cue reactivity paradigm, will also be performed at predefined study time points to evaluate longitudinal changes in neural responses associated with drug craving.
All participants will complete the final study evaluation at Visit 6 (Day 180 ± 7). Participants with unresolved adverse events may continue to be followed beyond the final scheduled visit when considered clinically necessary by the investigator.
Korea University Anam Hospital is the lead sponsor of 112 studies on the registry; 31 are open to participants now.
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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.
Subject is diagnosed with a psychostimulant* use disorder (PUD) by a board certified psychiatrist.
*Psychostimulants: Methamphetamine, cocaine, and other stimulants
Exclusion Criteria:
Subject with known unstable cardiac status or severe hypertension including:
Subject has blood coagulation test results outside the normal range
For women of *, who do not agree to use clinically appropriate ** for the duration of the clinical trial
*Definition of women of childbearing age: means women who have experienced menarche, have not been surgically sterilized (hysterectomy or bilateral oophorectomy), or are not , defined as amenorrhea for 12 months or more for no other reason.
**Clinically appropriate contraception: defined as "[intrauterine device (e.g., Loop, Mirena), chemical barrier method (spermicide), or subdermal implantable contraceptive device (e.g., Implanon)] + physical barrier method (male or female)" for women, tubal surgery, or laparoscopic contraception (a type of tubal ligation).
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.
The American Psychiatric Association’s manual of mental health diagnoses. DSM-5 (2013, revised as DSM-5-TR in 2022) replaced DSM-IV, and some studies still name the older edition. “Meets DSM criteria for …” means diagnosed by that edition’s diagnostic criteria, usually by a clinician in an interview.
A drug or device being studied in a clinical trial.
It may be new, or already approved and being studied for another use, dose or form. Criteria often leave out people who took part in another study of one within a recent period, commonly 30 days or five half-lives.
A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.
GFR (glomerular filtration rate) is how much blood the kidneys filter each minute. It is usually estimated from a blood test — eGFR, by formulas such as CKD-EPI or MDRD — and some studies ask for it to be measured directly instead. Usually given in mL/min/1.73 m².
Check the method, the units and the minimum the study states. A value of 90 or above is in the normal-or-high range, but kidney damage can show in other tests too.
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.
Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.
Blood tests of how long blood takes to clot. The INR is the prothrombin time (PT) put on a common scale; about 1 is usual for someone not taking a blood thinner.
Criteria often make an exception for people on a blood thinner such as warfarin, whose INR is raised on purpose.
Judged by the study doctor to matter for your health or for the study. It is a doctor’s decision, so ask the study team if you are unsure whether something counts.
The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.
Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.
Able to become pregnant: from the first period until menopause, unless permanently unable to through surgery (removal of the womb, or of both ovaries or both fallopian tubes).
Criteria for people of childbearing potential usually ask for a negative pregnancy test and for contraception during the study and for a time after it.
Ways of preventing pregnancy. “Highly effective” methods fail less than 1% of the time a year when used correctly — for example an IUD or an implant.
Criteria usually say which methods count and how long to keep using them after the last dose, sometimes for male participants too. Some studies accept a partner’s vasectomy if it was confirmed successful and that person is the participant’s only sexual partner.
Periods have stopped for good: usually no period for 12 months in a row without another medical reason, sometimes confirmed by a blood test (FSH).
DSM diagnostic criteria
The American Psychiatric Association’s manual of mental health diagnoses. DSM-5 (2013, revised as DSM-5-TR in 2022) replaced DSM-IV, and some studies still name the older edition. “Meets DSM criteria for …” means diagnosed by that edition’s diagnostic criteria, usually by a clinician in an interview.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Investigational drug or device
A drug or device being studied in a clinical trial.
It may be new, or already approved and being studied for another use, dose or form. Criteria often leave out people who took part in another study of one within a recent period, commonly 30 days or five half-lives.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Contraindication
A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
GFR and eGFR (kidney filtering)
GFR (glomerular filtration rate) is how much blood the kidneys filter each minute. It is usually estimated from a blood test — eGFR, by formulas such as CKD-EPI or MDRD — and some studies ask for it to be measured directly instead. Usually given in mL/min/1.73 m².
Check the method, the units and the minimum the study states. A value of 90 or above is in the normal-or-high range, but kidney damage can show in other tests too.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Platelets
Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
INR, PT and aPTT (clotting tests)
Blood tests of how long blood takes to clot. The INR is the prothrombin time (PT) put on a common scale; about 1 is usual for someone not taking a blood thinner.
Criteria often make an exception for people on a blood thinner such as warfarin, whose INR is raised on purpose.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Clinically significant
Judged by the study doctor to matter for your health or for the study. It is a doctor’s decision, so ask the study team if you are unsure whether something counts.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
HIV
The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.
Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Childbearing potential
Able to become pregnant: from the first period until menopause, unless permanently unable to through surgery (removal of the womb, or of both ovaries or both fallopian tubes).
Criteria for people of childbearing potential usually ask for a negative pregnancy test and for contraception during the study and for a time after it.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Contraception
Ways of preventing pregnancy. “Highly effective” methods fail less than 1% of the time a year when used correctly — for example an IUD or an implant.
Criteria usually say which methods count and how long to keep using them after the last dose, sometimes for male participants too. Some studies accept a partner’s vasectomy if it was confirmed successful and that person is the participant’s only sexual partner.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Postmenopausal
Periods have stopped for good: usually no period for 12 months in a row without another medical reason, sometimes confirmed by a blood test (FSH).
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Visit 2(Procedure)
Device: ExAblate 4000 Type 2.1
In treatment arm, the subject will receive device application(bilateral NAc FUS; Visit 2) Subjects will return to the site at Visit 3 (7±2 days post device application), Visit 4 (30±7 days post device application), Visit 5 (90±7 days post device application), and Visit 6 (180±7 days post device application) for safety and efficacy assessments.
Success rate of psychostimulant abstinence (%)
Percentage of subjects with no detectable psychostimulants and other illicit drugs by urine toxicology screening after application
Time frame: 7, 30, 90, and 180 days after device application
Time to relapse (in days)
Time in days from active sonication to the first positive urine toxicology result indicating psychostimulant relapse. Participants without a positive urine toxicology result are followed through Day 180.
Time frame: 6 months
Visual Analog Scale rating of craving severity
Change in substance craving visual analog scale (VAS, 0-10) score after device application. Craving is rated on a 0-10 visual analog scale, where 0 indicates no craving and 10 indicates the strongest craving ever.
Time frame: Baseline to 7, 30, 90, and 180 days after device application
Assessments related to mood/anxiety/attention/impulsivity
Change (in points) in assessments of mood/anxiety/attention/impulsivity
Time frame: Baseline to 7, 30, 90, and 180 days after device application
Assessment of cognitive function
Change in Cognitive Function Assessment (points) Post-device application
Time frame: Baseline to 180 days after device application
Evaluation of resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) and fMRI drug cue reactivity (FDCR)
Change in resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) and fMRI drug cue reactivity (FDCR) after device application. RSFC assesses longitudinal changes in functional connectivity across brain networks at rest, while FDCR assesses longitudinal changes in BOLD responses to drug-related versus neutral cues.
Time frame: Baseline to 7 days and 90 days after device application
Plan to share: Undecided
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