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Efficacy and Mechanism of Transcranial Temporal Interference Stimulation (tTIS) in the Treatment of Adolescent Depression

Efficacy and Mechanism of Transcranial Temporal Interference Stimulation (tTIS) in the Treatment of Adolescent Depression

Status
Not yet recruiting
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT06902064
Enrollment
30
Registered
2025-03-30
Start date
2025-03-31
Completion date
2027-12-31
Last updated
2025-03-30

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

Conditions

Adolescent, Depression - Major Depressive Disorder

Keywords

adolescent, depression, Transcranial temporal interference stimulation

Brief summary

This trial is a single-center, single-blind, randomized, sham-stimulation controlled clinical trial. The primary objective of the trial is to detect the targeted effect of tTIS on the nucleus accumbens of adolescent depression patients using functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The secondary objective is to evaluate the potential therapeutic efficacy of TIS treatment for adolescent MDD by assessing changes in clinical characteristics of participants, electrophysiological outcomes, and providing feasibility and tolerance estimates for large-scale efficacy trials. Thirty adolescent MDD participants aged 13 to 17 will be recruited and randomly assigned to receive 10 TIS treatments or sham stimulation treatments (15 participants per group). The trial includes pre-treatment and post-treatment MRI brain scans, clinical assessments, and resting-state EEG, fNIRS acquisition. Follow-ups will be conducted at baseline, after the 10th day of treatment, at the 4th week, and the 8th week. The Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-17), and the Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) will be used to assess changes in depressive symptoms of the subjects. The Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA) and the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) will be used to assess anxiety symptoms of the subjects. The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised China (WAIS-RC) will be used to assess cognitive function of the subjects.

Interventions

Transcranial temporal interference stimulation (tTIS) is a novel neurostimulation technique that utilizes two or more electric fields of specific frequencies to modulate the oscillations of neurons at the desired spatial location in the brain. The physics of tTIS offers the advantage of non-invasively regulating deep brain structures and minimally stimulating the overlying cortex outside the selected target.

DEVICEsham tTIS

The sham tTIS is enabled by checking the Pseudo-Stimulation option on the screen. After the rising phase, the current will drop directly to 0mA, imitating the sensation of a real stimulation.

Sponsors

Xijing Hospital
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
13 Years to 17 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* 1\) Age 13 - 17 years old; 2)Meet the DSM-5 criteria for MDD with a current MDE without psychotic features, as confirmed by the MINI 3) HAMD-17 total score of ≥20 4) No change in treatment regimen in the 4 weeks prior to screening 5) No severe mental disorders or intellectual disabilities; 6)Can cooperate actively with the experimental process and subsequent follow-up.

Exclusion criteria

* 1\) serious diseases such as heart, liver, kidney and hematopoietic system disorders; 2) abuse drugs or are addicted to alcohol or suffer from uncontrollable mental illnesses; 3) Active suicidal intent, confirmed by the MINI Module B (Suicidality) or HAMD-17 item #3 score ≥3; 4) Pregnant or lactating; 5) Those who have identified definite organic lesions such as infarction foci, softening foci, hemorrhage foci, and space-occupying lesions through plain scan of cranial MRI; 6) Those with implanted objects in the brain (such as aneurysm clips, shunt devices, stimulators, cochlear implants or electrodes) or any other metal objects in or near the head, and cannot be safely removed; 7) Change in medication or psychotherapy treatment regimen before screening 8) Could not cooperate with fMRI examination or tTIS treatment; 9)Have received other forms of brain stimulation treatment in the past 3 months.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
The change in Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) between groups overtimebaseline, 10 days, 28 days, 56 daysThe change in Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) between groups overtime

Outcome results

None listed

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