Computer models to guide deep brain stimulation settings for essential tremor
Tests model-guided programming of brain stimulation settings in people with essential tremor.
Key facts
- Who runs it
- University of Minnesota
- Where
- Minneapolis, United StatesSee the site
- Trial code
- Registry title
- Algorithms for Programming DBS Systems for ET
- Status
- Recruiting
- People taking part
- 25 people, planned
- Started
- 1 Oct 2019
- Expected to end
- 31 Dec 2031
- Type of study
- Interventional
- Treatments tested
- Vim-Deep Brain Stimulation
- Record updated
- 27 January 2026
Who can take part
AI summary
From the trial's eligibility criteria. Machine-read from the registry text on this page, so it can be wrong. The registry text below and the trial team decide who can take part.
The trial is looking for adults with essential tremor who already have a deep brain stimulation (DBS) implant in the Vim area of the brain. It tests computer models that help set the stimulation.
- Age
- 21 years and older
- Sex
- All sexes
- Disease stage
- Essential tremor that does not get better with medicines.
- Earlier treatment
- Must already have a VIM-DBS implant, on one or both sides. Must have had a 7T MRI scan before surgery under Dr. Harel's protocol (#1210M22183) and a CT scan after surgery.
Main reasons for not taking part
- Past muscle, bone or joint disorders that affect limb movement
- Another significant disorder of the brain or nerves
- Past stereotactic brain surgery other than VIM-DBS surgery
- Pregnancy
The registry criteria, word for word
Show all 9 criteriaShow less
Who can take part
- diagnosis of ET
- medication-refractory tremor
- VIM-DBS implant (unilateral or bilateral)
- 7T MRI pre-operative scan under Dr. Harel's IRB (institutional review board) protocol (#1210M22183)
- Post-operative CT scan
Who cannot take part
- prior history of stereotactic neurosurgery (other than VIM-DBS surgery)
- history of musculoskeletal disorders that affect movement of the limbs
- other significant neurological disorder
- pregnancy
Where in United States
- University of MinnesotaMinneapolis, United StatesContact: Matthew Johnson, PhDTaking people
About the trial
What the trial wants to find out
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) targeting the Vim thalamus (ventralis intermedius nucleus) is an FDA-approved neuromodulation therapy for treating postural and action tremor in individuals with essential tremor (ET). The success of this treatment, however, is highly dependent on the ability of clinicians to identify therapeutic stimulation settings through a laborious programming process. There is a strong and growing clinical need for new approaches to provide clinicians with more efficient guidance on how to titrate stimulation settings. This study will leverage subject-specific computational models that can predict neural activation of axonal pathways adjacent to the active electrode(s) and implicated in the therapeutic mechanisms of Vim-DBS to in turn guide clinicians with which stimulation settings are likely to be the most therapeutic on tremor.
The group in the trial
- Deep Brain StimulationTreatment being tested
Subjects in this study will have been implanted with a DBS lead in the VIM as part of their routine clinical care and have an existing set of brain MRI's.
Treatment: Vim-Deep Brain Stimulation
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Contact the study team: see the registry record → Contacts and Locations
Print a page for my doctorData and sources
- Registry record
- Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Official title
- Algorithms for Programming DBS Systems for ET
- Plain-language title
- Computer models to guide deep brain stimulation settings for essential tremorGenerated from the registry record. The registry title is the official one.
- AI summary
- From the trial's eligibility criteria. Read by machine on 14 November 2026.
- Record updated
- 27 January 2026