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Cognitive ChangeNIR-FlowNCT03740152

Transcranial Near-Infrared Light in Healthy Subjects: a Cerebral Blood Flow Study With Diffuse Correlation Spectroscopy

A study testing Transcranial Light Therapy in people with Cognitive Change, run by Massachusetts General Hospital at 1 site in United States.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

Transcranial Light Therapy involves non-invasive and invisible beams of light that increase energy metabolism in the brain. Transcranial light therapy has been found to promote brain metabolism. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 to 70 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
Conditions the study is for
Cognitive Change
What is being tested?
Transcranial Light Therapy
Type of treatment
Medical device
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
10 participants
Where
1 siteUnited States
Study dates
22 Aug 2017to 16 May 2019
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
Yes, posted in the registrySummary in the doctors' view

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 18 to 70 years
  • All sexes
  • Healthy volunteers accepted
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Subjects age at screening will be between 18 and 70 years old (inclusive).
  • Women of child-bearing potential must use a double-barrier method for birth control (e.g. condoms plus spermicide) if sexually active.
  • Subject Informed Consent obtained in writing in compliance with local regulations prior to enrollment into this study.
  • The subject is willing to participate in this study for at least 5 weeks.

Who cannot join

  • The subject is pregnant or lactating.
  • The subject is on any psychotropic medication.
  • Psychotherapy is exclusionary unless the subject has had at least 8 weeks of treatment prior to the screening visit.
  • Any current psychiatric disorder (per SCID assessment)
  • Substance or alcohol dependence or abuse in the past 6 months.
  • History of a psychotic disorder or psychotic episode (current psychotic episode per SCID assessment).
Show all 14Show fewer
  • Bipolar affective disorder (per SCID assessment).
  • Unstable medical or neurological illness, defined as any illness which is not well-controlled with standard-of-care medications (e.g., insulin for diabetes mellitus, HCTZ for hypertension).
  • Suicidal or homicidal ideation as determined by SCID screening.
  • The subject has a significant skin condition (i.e., hemangioma, scleroderma, psoriasis, rash, open wound or tattoo) on the subject's scalp that is found to be in proximity to any of the procedure sites.
  • The subject has an implant of any kind in the head (e.g. stent, clipped aneurysm, embolised Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM), implantable shunt - Hakim valve).
  • Any use of light-activated drugs (photodynamic therapy) within 14 days prior to study enrollment (in US: Visudyne (verteporfin) - for age related macular degeneration; Aminolevulinic Acid- for actinic keratoses; Photofrin (porfimer sodium) - for esophageal cancer, non-small cell lung cancer; Levulan Kerastick (aminolevulinic acid HCl) - for actinic keratosis; 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA)- for non-melanoma skin cancer)
  • Recent history of stroke (90 days).
  • Personality traits that rend the subject unsuitable for the study, based on the investigators' clinical judgment.

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

United States1 site
  • Massachusetts General Hospital- Center for Anxiety and Traumatic Stress Disorders

    Boston, Massachusetts, 02114

Other trials in United States

About this study

Transcranial Light Therapy involves non-invasive and invisible beams of light that increase energy metabolism in the brain. Transcranial light therapy has been found to promote brain metabolism. The purpose of the study is:

To asses the change in cerebral blood flow induced by the Transcranial Continuous and Pulse Near-Infrared Light Therapy in healthy subjects.

Read more

To correlate with cognitive performance the change in cerebral blood flow induced by the Transcranial Continuous and Pulse Near-Infrared Light Therapy in healthy subjects.

To correlate with skin pigmentation the change in cerebral blood flow induced by the Transcranial Continuous and Pulse Near-Infrared Light Therapy in healthy subjects.

To assess the safety and tolerability of the Transcranial Continuous and Pulse Near-Infrared Light Therapy in healthy subjects

Read the detailed description

During study visits a clinician applies transcranial light therapy to both sides of a participant's forehead for about 30 minutes. The study involves, 1 screening visit which may last up to 3 hours, 3 transcranial light therapy treatment visits, and 1 posttreatment visit (5 total visits to the Massachusetts General Hospital).

All eligible participants will have 1 visit with continuous light, 1 visit with pulsed light, and 1 visit with sham light. Cerebral blood flow will be measured before and after each light session using DCS-spectroscopy. During sham transcranial light therapy visits, the transcranial light therapy device will not produce near infrared waves (e.g., light energy that cannot penetrate the skin and cranium). The participant will not know which treatment is received at each visit.

Being tested
Transcranial Light Therapy

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Transcranial Light TherapyDevice

    Device: LiteCure® The PhotoBioModulation-1000 (TPBM-1000)

Study groups in NCT03740152
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Transcranial Light TherapyExperimentalAll subjects will be administered 1 week of continuous TLT, 1 week of pulsed TLT, and 1 week of sham TLT.
Receives: Device: Transcranial Light Therapy

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Change in Cerebral Blood Flow (Baseline to Week 5)

    Measured using Diffuse Correlation Spectroscopy (DCS) signal.

    Measured: 5 weeks

Secondary outcomes (2)
  1. Change in Accuracy on N-Back Task (Baseline to Week 5)

    The N-Back task is a measure of working memory. Participants are presented a sequence of stimuli and they must decide if the current stimulus is the same as the one presented 2 trials ago. Accuracy was measured as a percentage of correct to incorrect trials.

    Measured: 5 weeks

  2. Number of Participants With Treatment-Emergent Adverse Events

    The safety endpoints will evaluate any reported adverse events within one week from each sessions of TLT.

    Measured: 5 weeks

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted14 Nov 2018
  2. Study start22 Aug 2017
  3. Primary completion16 May 2019
  4. Study completion16 May 2019

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrolment
10 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT03740152
Sponsor's protocol ID
2016P002481
Acronym
NIR-Flow
Status last verified
Oct 2020
First submitted
23 Aug 2017
Last updated
19 Nov 2020
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
No

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Transcranial Light Therapy in people with Cognitive Change, run by Massachusetts General Hospital at 1 site in United States.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 4 inclusion and 14 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 19 Nov 2020. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

Yes. Results are posted in the registry (first posted 19 Nov 2020). A summary is in the For doctors view, and the full results are on ClinicalTrials.gov.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Change in Cerebral Blood Flow (Baseline to Week 5) (time frame: 5 weeks). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 19 Nov 2020.

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