Placebo-controlled psychometric investigation of percutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (pVNS) in healthy volunteers using PrimeStim

Placebo-controlled psychometric investigation of percutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (pVNS) in healthy volunteers using PrimeStim - VAGUS

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

DRKS

Registry ID

DRKS00022427

Enrollment

Registered

2020-07-24

Start date

2020-07-07

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2025-04-07

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Healthy volunteers

Interventions

Group 1: Placebo-controlled, double-blind, within-subject crossover design study with one sample. Using the percutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (pVNS) device PrimeStim we will stimulate on three dif

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

18 Years to 40 Years

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: none

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: 1. medical conditions related to the metabolic, respiratory, caridiac, and capillary 2. serious past or present brain disease, brain injury or brain surgery 3. acute or chronic psychological or physical diseases 4. current medication (except hormonal contraceptives) 5. implanted active medical devices 6. permanent ear piercings 7. women: pregnancy and breast feeding 8. past or present nicotine and/or durg abuse

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
The primary outcomes entail (i) the determination of individual detection amplitudes (ii) and the determination of optimal stimulation amplitudes based on changes in physiological parameters.	—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
The secondary outcomes entail (i) the evaluation of respiration and subjective reports regarding bodily sensations, (ii) a possible relationship between stimulation amplitudes and learning in the exteroceptive domain.	—

Countries

Switzerland

Contacts

Public ContactSandra Iglesias

Institute for Biomedical Engineering University of Zurich and ETH Zurich Translational Neuromodeling Unit (TNU)

iglesias@biomed.ee.ethz.ch0041 44 634 91 15

Outcome results

None listed

Source: DRKS (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026