AmblyopiaNCT06760910
Clinical Treatment of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Older Adolescents With Amblyopia
A study testing tDCS Stimulation and Anodal tDCS in people with Amblyopia, run by Tianjin Eye Hospital at 1 site in China.
Trial summary
As a neurodevelopmental visual disorder, amblyopia, especially monocular form-deprivation amblyopia, can lead to severe visual developmental impairments. Due to reduced neural plasticity in the visual cortex after the critical period of visual development, older children and adults with amblyopia show poor responses… Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 10 to 30 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Amblyopia
- What is being tested?
- tDCS Stimulation and Anodal tDCS
- Type of treatment
- Medical device, Surgery or procedure
- Could I receive a placebo?
- Yes, some participants may receive a placebo
- How many people
- 40 participants
- Where
- 1 siteChina
- Study dates
- 30 Jan 2021to 30 Dec 2026
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
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 10 to 30 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Child, Adult
Who may be able to join
- Children and their legal guardians have obtained consent in writing.
- Participants aged 10-30, of any gender.
- Participants must meet the diagnostic criteria for amblyopia: unilateral amblyopia with a difference of two lines or more in visual acuity between the eyes, or bilateral amblyopia with best-corrected visual acuity worse than 20/30 (or worse than 0.2 logMAR). The visual acuity charts to be used are LEA SYMBOLS® (Good-Lite Co., Elgin, IL) or HOTV visual acuity chart.
Who cannot join
- Participants who may have eye diseases affecting vision or refractive errors (such as cataracts, crystalline lens damage, glaucoma, macular degeneration, corneal disorders, retinitis pigmentosa, retinal detachment, severe vitreous opacities, etc
- History of eye trauma or intraocular surgery
- Inability to cooperate with examinations
- Presence of concomitant systemic diseases (such as epilepsy)
- Participation in any other experimental treatment within the past 3 months
- Other situations deemed unsuitable by the investigator.
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
China1 site, 1 recruiting
- Recruiting
Tianjin Eye Hospital
Tianjin, Tianjin Municipality, 300020
Yatu Guo, 13902069596, yatuguo@163.com
About this study
Official title: Efficacy of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in the Amblyopia Treatment of Older Adolescents: A Cohort Study
As a neurodevelopmental visual disorder, amblyopia, especially monocular form-deprivation amblyopia, can lead to severe visual developmental impairments. Due to reduced neural plasticity in the visual cortex after the critical period of visual development, older children and adults with amblyopia show poor responses to conventional treatments, lacking effective therapeutic options. Recent basic and clinical research has shown that transcranial direct current stimulation can effectively treat adult amblyopia by altering cortical excitability, enhancing synaptic plasticity, and affecting the excitatory/inhibitory balance in the cortex to reboot adult visual cortex plasticity. This proposed study aims to conduct a large-scale prospective randomized controlled trial to objectively assess the efficacy and safety of transcranial direct current stimulation in treating amblyopia in older adolescents and adults. By comparing changes in best-corrected visual acuity, visual evoked potentials(VEPs), contrast sensitivity, and functional connectivity between the visual cortex and other cortical areas using fMRI, the study seeks to provide robust clinical evidence, clarify the treatment effects of transcranial direct current stimulation in adult amblyopia, elucidate potential mechanisms of enhancing adult visual cortex plasticity with transcranial direct current stimulation, and potentially offer a safe and effective treatment modality for adult amblyopia.
Read the detailed description
- A prospective cohort study designed to evaluate the effectiveness of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in improving visual outcomes in older adolescents with amblyopia. Anodal tDCS Group: Participants will receive anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) with electrodes placed over the occipital cortex, chosen due to its critical role in processing visual information and its potential responsiveness to neuromodulation in amblyopia treatment. The stimulation will be set at 0.1 mA for 20 minutes per session, twice a week, over 6 months; Sham Stimulation Group: Participants will receive sham tDCS with electrodes similarly placed over the occipital cortex. The stimulation will be set at 0 mA for 20 minutes per session, twice a week, over 6 months.
- The impact of transcranial direct current stimulation on adult visual cortex plasticity and cortical functional assessment. Before and after transcranial direct current stimulation, resting-state and task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) are used to assess the functional activity between the visual cortex and other cortical regions. This evaluation aims to identify changes in adult visual cortex plasticity.
- Conditions
- Amblyopia
- Being tested
- tDCS Stimulation, Anodal tDCS, Sham tDCS
- Keywords
- Amblyopia, transcranial direct current stimulation(tDCs), adolescent, treatment
- Medical subject headings
- Amblyopia
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
tDCS StimulationProcedure or surgery
Anode tDCS or sham stimulation for amblyopia of Adolescents
Anodal tDCSDevice
Anodal tDCS
Sham tDCSDevice
Sham tDCS
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Anodal tDCS Group | Active comparator | Participants will receive anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) with electrodes placed over the occipital cortex, chosen due to its critical role in processing visual information and its potential responsiveness to neuromodulation in amblyopia treatment. The stimulation will be set at 0.1 mA for 20 minutes per session, twice a week, over 6 months Receives: Procedure: tDCS Stimulation; Device: Anodal tDCS |
| Sham Stimulation Group | Sham comparator | Participants will receive sham tDCS with electrodes similarly placed over the occipital cortex. The stimulation will be set at 0 mA for 20 minutes per session, twice a week, over 6 months Receives: Procedure: tDCS Stimulation; Device: Sham tDCS |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Improvement in Best Corrected Visual Acuity (BCVA)
quantified by the number of lines gained on a standard visual acuity chart(HOTV chart). This measure will be assessed at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months post-intervention. A line gain is defined as the ability to correctly read an additional row of optotypes compared to baseline measurements. The improvement will be evaluated separately for each eye and averaged to assess overall treatment efficacy.
Measured: 24 weeks
Secondary outcomes (2)
Changes in Visual Evoked Potential (VEP)
changes in Visual Evoked Potential (VEP) metrics, specifically amplitude and latency, at 15 minutes and 1-degree visual angle stimulations. These measures will be used to assess the functional responsiveness of the visual pathways and cortical processing efficiency. Baseline, 3-month, and 6-month assessments will provide comparative data to evaluate the neurophysiological effects of the intervention.
Measured: 24 weeks
Improvements in contrast sensitivity at different spatial frequencies
Contrast sensitivity will be evaluated using a contrast sensitivity test with CSV-1000E(Vector vision, US), which measures the ability to detect differences in luminance across varying spatial frequencies (low 3 c/d, medium 6c/d、12 c/d, and high 18 c/d). Assessments will be conducted at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months post-intervention. The degree of improvement will be compared across groups to determine the impact of tDCS on visual function beyond acuity.
Measured: 24 weeks
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted7 Jan 2025
- Study start30 Jan 2021
- Primary completion30 May 2026 (estimated)
- Study completion30 Dec 2026 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for AmblyopiaStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
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
- Non-randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 40 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Tianjin Eye Hospital
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Yatu Guo, Tianjin Eye Hospital
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT06760910
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- YK2023001
- Status last verified
- Jan 2025
- First submitted
- 25 Mar 2024
- Last updated
- 7 Jan 2025
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- Yes
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 7 Jan 2025. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Efficacy of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in the Amblyopia Treatment of Older Adolescents: A Cohort Study
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT06760910
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- YK2023001
- Conditions
- Amblyopia
- Keywords
- Amblyopia, transcranial direct current stimulation(tDCs), adolescent, treatment
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Recruiting
- Enrolment
- 40 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- Tianjin Eye HospitalUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- 30 Jan 2021 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 30 May 2026 (estimated)
- Study completion
- 30 Dec 2026 (estimated)
- First posted
- 7 Jan 2025 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
As a neurodevelopmental visual disorder, amblyopia, especially monocular form-deprivation amblyopia, can lead to severe visual developmental impairments. Due to reduced neural plasticity in the visual cortex after the critical period of visual development, older children and adults with amblyopia show poor responses to conventional treatments, lacking effective therapeutic options. Recent basic and clinical research has shown that transcranial direct current stimulation can effectively treat adult amblyopia by altering cortical excitability, enhancing synaptic plasticity, and affecting the excitatory/inhibitory balance in the cortex to reboot adult visual cortex plasticity. This proposed study aims to conduct a large-scale prospective randomized controlled trial to objectively assess the efficacy and safety of transcranial direct current stimulation in treating amblyopia in older adolescents and adults. By comparing changes in best-corrected visual acuity, visual evoked potentials(VEPs), contrast sensitivity, and functional connectivity between the visual cortex and other cortical areas using fMRI, the study seeks to provide robust clinical evidence, clarify the treatment effects of transcranial direct current stimulation in adult amblyopia, elucidate potential mechanisms of enhancing adult visual cortex plasticity with transcranial direct current stimulation, and potentially offer a safe and effective treatment modality for adult amblyopia.
Detailed description
- A prospective cohort study designed to evaluate the effectiveness of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in improving visual outcomes in older adolescents with amblyopia. Anodal tDCS Group: Participants will receive anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) with electrodes placed over the occipital cortex, chosen due to its critical role in processing visual information and its potential responsiveness to neuromodulation in amblyopia treatment. The stimulation will be set at 0.1 mA for 20 minutes per session, twice a week, over 6 months; Sham Stimulation Group: Participants will receive sham tDCS with electrodes similarly placed over the occipital cortex. The stimulation will be set at 0 mA for 20 minutes per session, twice a week, over 6 months.
- The impact of transcranial direct current stimulation on adult visual cortex plasticity and cortical functional assessment. Before and after transcranial direct current stimulation, resting-state and task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) are used to assess the functional activity between the visual cortex and other cortical regions. This evaluation aims to identify changes in adult visual cortex plasticity.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Non-randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 2
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Anodal tDCS Group | Active comparator | Procedure: tDCS Stimulation, Device: Anodal tDCSParticipants will receive anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) with electrodes placed over the occipital cortex, chosen due to its critical role in processing visual information and its potential responsiveness to neuromodulation in amblyopia treatment. The stimulation will be set at 0.1 mA for 20 minutes per session, twice a week, over 6 months |
| Sham Stimulation Group | Sham comparator | Procedure: tDCS Stimulation, Device: Sham tDCSParticipants will receive sham tDCS with electrodes similarly placed over the occipital cortex. The stimulation will be set at 0 mA for 20 minutes per session, twice a week, over 6 months |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 10 to 30 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Child, Adult
Key inclusion criteria (3 listed)
- Children and their legal guardians have obtained consent in writing.
- Participants aged 10-30, of any gender.
- Participants must meet the diagnostic criteria for amblyopia: unilateral amblyopia with a difference of two lines or more in visual acuity between the eyes, or bilateral amblyopia with best-corrected visual acuity worse than 20/30 (or worse than 0.2 logMAR). The visual acuity charts to be used are LEA SYMBOLS® (Good-Lite Co., Elgin, IL) or HOTV visual acuity chart.
Key exclusion criteria (6 listed)
- Participants who may have eye diseases affecting vision or refractive errors (such as cataracts, crystalline lens damage, glaucoma, macular degeneration, corneal disorders, retinitis pigmentosa, retinal detachment, severe vitreous opacities, etc
- History of eye trauma or intraocular surgery
- Inability to cooperate with examinations
- Presence of concomitant systemic diseases (such as epilepsy)
- Participation in any other experimental treatment within the past 3 months
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| tDCS StimulationAnode tDCS or sham stimulation for amblyopia of Adolescents | Procedure or surgery | Anodal tDCS Group, Sham Stimulation Group |
| Anodal tDCSAnodal tDCS | Device | Anodal tDCS Group |
| Sham tDCSSham tDCS | Device | Sham Stimulation Group |
Primary outcome
Improvement in Best Corrected Visual Acuity (BCVA)
Time frame: 24 weeks
quantified by the number of lines gained on a standard visual acuity chart(HOTV chart). This measure will be assessed at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months post-intervention. A line gain is defined as the ability to correctly read an additional row of optotypes compared to baseline measurements. The improvement will be evaluated separately for each eye and averaged to assess overall treatment efficacy.
2 secondary outcomes
Changes in Visual Evoked Potential (VEP)
Time frame: 24 weeks
Improvements in contrast sensitivity at different spatial frequencies
Time frame: 24 weeks
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 7 Jan 2025.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part.
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing tDCS Stimulation and Anodal tDCS in people with Amblyopia, run by Tianjin Eye Hospital at 1 site in China.
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 3 inclusion and 6 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: looking for participants now, as of the sponsor's last update on 7 Jan 2025. 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 China. 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. Some participants in this study may receive a placebo. 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?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
Each site lists its own contact: choose the nearest one under Trial locations. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Improvement in Best Corrected Visual Acuity (BCVA) (time frame: 24 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 7 Jan 2025.