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RecruitingNCT07774715Updated Aug 19, 2026

Effect of Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) on Handwriting Rehabilitation After Acquired Brain Injury (ABI)

An interventional study of Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) on Handwriting Rehabilitation in Acquired Brain Injury Including Stroke, sponsored by Texas Woman's University. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 75 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-08-19.

Sponsored by Texas Woman's University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Registered 1 year 6 months after the study started (first participant enrolled Jan 2025, registered Aug 2026).
  • Started Jan 2025; still recruiting 1 year 9 months later.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
36
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years to 75 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Study Purpose Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) enhances motor recovery by increasing the functional range of motion to significantly improve muscle force deficits following an acquired brain injury. While FES has shown promise in improving muscular activation, its role in facilitating fine motor skills like handwriting in the acquired brain injury population needs further investigation. The project will incorporate motion capture (mo-cap) analysis technology, which will capture participants' detailed movement patterns during handwriting tasks and provide multi-baseline pre-analysis/post-analysis of motor planning and execution for precise tracking of manual dexterity improvements by quantifying changes in fine motor control, speed, and accuracy.

The study seeks to provide comprehensive evidence of FES's effectiveness in hand remediation with combined assistive technology with functional-based activity to enhance motor function and improve acquired brain injury survivors' quality of life by enabling better outcomes in daily tasks requiring fine motor skills. Functional electrical stimulation improves reaching movement in the shoulder and elbow muscles of stroke patients:

02

Conditions studied

  • Acquired Brain Injury Including Stroke
03

In context

Brain Injuries

946 studies on the registry are indexed under Brain Injuries; 235 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 36 is below the median of 41 across 612 interventional studies indexed under Brain Injuries.

Browse Brain Injuries studies →

Lead sponsor

Texas Woman's University is the lead sponsor of 83 studies on the registry; 5 are open to participants now.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 75 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

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

  • Participants must have experienced either an ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke or a traumatic brain injury (TBI), resulting in impaired hand function.
  • Participants should have completed the acute phase of recovery, have had an onset of injury more than one month ago, and be in the subacute or chronic phase (at least one month after the injury).
  • Participants must demonstrate motor impairments affecting fine motor control and handwriting ability.
  • Participants should be able to attend one-hour weekly sessions for eight weeks.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Cardiac disease to avoid potential interference with heart function during FES
  • Presence of an implanted medical stimulator (e.g., pacemaker) to prevent device interference and ensure participant safety.
  • Venous thrombosis or thrombophlebitis to reduce the risk of exacerbating these conditions with electrical stimulation.
  • History of seizure disorder to avoid triggering seizures with electrical stimulation.
  • Impaired sensation in the upper extremities to ensure accurate feedback regarding comfort and prevent unnoticed overstimulation.
  • Medically stable with a stroke or traumatic brain injury less than one month ago - to focus on individuals in the subacute or chronic recovery phase.
  • Participants who are pregnant - to minimize any potential risk to the participant or fetus.
  • Individuals with bilateral upper extremity coordination to focus on individuals with unilateral impairments for this study
  • Participants with severe cognitive impairment or communication barriers to ensure participants can understand instructions, provide feedback, and give .
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(1)

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.

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

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Sequential assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
36 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Stroke survivors were recruited from The Stroke Center in Texas.

    "be included in the study, participant interest in handwriting remediation."

    Combination Product: Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) on Handwriting Rehabilitation

Interventions

  • Combination productFunctional Electrical Stimulation (FES) on Handwriting Rehabilitation

    The principal investigator (PI) and co-principal investigator (co-PI) will screen participants based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria with a screening form. If participants are eligible, informed consent will be obtained before the study begins. The co-PI will generate non-identifiable codes for each participant using an Excel spreadsheet to maintain confidentiality throughout the research study. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups using a computer-generated randomization process in Excel, ensuring unbiased group allocation. Participants will not be aware of their group assignment until after randomization. If participants decline their assigned intervention, they can withdraw from the study, as participation is voluntary. The control group will receive an OT handwriting program with functional-based activities without functional electrical stimulation (FES). In contrast, the treatment group will use the same OT handwriting program with functional-based a

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Modified COPM, The Print Tool Evaluation & Max300 MoCap Analysis.

    Modified COPM assessment includes: Scale (1-10), 1= not important at all 10= very important for satisfaction and performance. The outcome measures of the Print Tool are: A quantitative score (Scale, 0-61) was generated based on 7 handwriting performance factors, including memory, orientation, placement, size, start, sequence, and control. The MoCap assessments include: displacement (m), movement time (s), peak velocity (m/s), percentage of movement time to peak velocity (%)

    Time frame: The study protocol will take 10 weeks to complete. Participants will attend: 8 weekly sessions per week (1 hour each) over 8 weeks. Two baseline sessions during Week 1 (1 hour each) include DASH-1, modified COPM, and 30 minutes of MoCap analysis during e

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
  • Texas Woman's University
    Dallas, Texas 75235-7200, United States
    Recruiting
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reachedSimilar studies: half by the dot; the band is the middle halfHalf of similar studies reached it by the dot; the band is the middle half, from a quarter to three quarters

Ran from Jan 2025 to primary completion in Aug 2026, 18 months.

Of 284 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Brain Injuries, half reached primary completion within 26 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 14 and three quarters within 48. This study's 18 months is below that.

Counting every sponsor, half of 297 studies reached it within 24 months; a quarter within 12 and three quarters within 48.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Aug 12, 2026
First posted
Aug 19, 2026
StartActual
Jan 29, 2025
Primary completionActual
Aug 11, 2026
CompletionEst.
Aug 11, 2026
Last update
Aug 19, 2026
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Aug 19, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT07774715
Lead sponsor
Texas Woman's University
Responsible party
William Sit (Professor, Texas Woman's University) — Principal investigator
First posted
Aug 19, 2026
Start date
Jan 29, 2025
Primary completion
Aug 11, 2026
Completion
Aug 11, 2026 (estimated)
Last update
Aug 19, 2026

Study contacts

william sit, Ph.D.
Contact
ysit@twu.edu
12145627020

Oversight

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

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