Transcranial Galvanic Stimulation After Stroke

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) of the Lesioned or Non-lesioned Hemisphere Plus Computer-assisted Arm Trainer: a Randomized, Placebo-controlled Double-blind Multi-centre Study in Patients With Severe Arm Paresis Early After Stroke

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT00407667

Acronym

TraGAT

Enrollment

Registered

2006-12-05

Start date

2006-12-31

Completion date

2009-12-31

Last updated

2011-03-21

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

Conditions

Stroke

Keywords

hemiparesis, rehabilitation, upper limb rehabilitation, arm therapy

Brief summary

Transcranial galvanic stimulation (tDCS) seems to promote motor recovery after stroke by stimulating (anodal) or inhibiting (cathodal) neural circuits in the brain. In the treatment of severe arm paresis after stroke, robot-assisted arm training (AT) proved to be effective, but nevertheless only a few patients could use their affected hand functionally in daily life after robot training. Therefore the present study intends to combine both approaches, tDCS + AT, applied at the same time every day for six weeks. The study has three treatment arms, two groups will receive the tDCS, either anodal of the lesioned or cathodal of the non-lesioned hemisphere. The anodal stimulation is expected to facilitate the activity of the arm motor area of the lesioned side directly, while the cathodal stimulation of the non-lesioned hemisphere is expected to facilitate the lesioned side indirectly by decreasing inhibitory inputs. The third group will receive a sham-stimulation. All patients will work with the AT simultaneously to the tDCS, respectively sham-tDCS.

Interventions

DEVICEtranscranial galvanic stimulation

for tDCS: Siemens Universal-Neuroton 826 for arm training: Bi-Manu-Track, Reha-Stim, Berlin

Study design

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

FACTORIAL

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

DOUBLE (Subject, Investigator)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to 80 Years

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* subacute stroke * stroke interval 3 to 8 weeks * severe upper limb paresis * Fugl-Meyer \< 18

Exclusion criteria

* history of epilepsy * antiepileptic, neuroleptic medication * metal implants

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Fugl-Meyer Upper Limb Motor Score (0-66)	45 min

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Box&Block Test	5 min

Countries

Germany, Italy

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026