A Phase 2 interventional study of Real tACS and Sham tACS in Chronic Low-back Pain, sponsored by Massachusetts General Hospital. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 60 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-03-16.
Sponsored by Massachusetts General Hospital · Phase 2, Interventional, and Basic science
Investigating the modulation effect of tACS
Investigating the modulation effect of one-month Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) for low back pain
Massachusetts General Hospital is the lead sponsor of 2,536 studies on the registry; 446 are open to participants now.
Of its 214 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 161 (75%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Exclusion Criteria:
Device: Real tACS
Device: Sham tACS
α-tACS at a frequency of alpha band at S1
Sham tACS with no stimulation applied
Alpha activity at rest
EEG/MEG data will be collected to measure alpha activity.
Time frame: Baseline and week 4
TC resting state functional connectivity
fMRI data will be collected to measure resting state functional connectivity.
Time frame: Baseline and week 4
Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) for pain intensity
The NRS is a uni-dimensional measure of pain intensity that uses an 11-point numeric scale. We will use it to measure the average low back pain intensity in the past week.
Time frame: Baseline and week 4
Alpha activity during tonic pressure pain
EEG/MEG data will be collected during administration of tonic pressure pain to measure alpha activity changes before and after tACS.
Time frame: Baseline and week 4
TC functional connectivity during tonic pain
fMRI data will be collected during administration of tonic pressure pain to measure functional connectivity changes before and after tACS.
Time frame: Baseline and week 4
Plan to share: No
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Massachusetts General Hospital