NCT05183152Recruiting
Non-invasive BCI-controlled Assistive Devices
Non-invasive Brain-computer Interfaces for Control of Assistive Devices
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Last updated 1 May 2026
Brief summary (registry, in English)
Injuries affecting the central nervous system may disrupt the cortical pathways to muscles causing loss of motor control. Nevertheless, the brain still exhibits sensorimotor rhythms (SMRs) during movement intents or motor imagery (MI), which is the mental rehearsal of the kinesthetics of a movement without actually performing it. Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) can decode SMRs to control assistive devices and promote functional recovery. Despite rapid advancements in non-invasive BCI systems based on EEG, two persistent challenges remain: First, the instability of SMR patterns due to the non-stationarity of neural signals, which may significantly degrade BCI performance over days and hamper the effectiveness of BCI-based rehabilitation. Second, differentiating MI patterns corresponding to fine hand movements of the same limb is still difficult due to the low spatial resolution of EEG. To address the first challenge, subjects usually learn to elicit reliable SMR and improve BCI control through longitudinal training, so a fundamental question is how to accelerate subject training building upon the SMR neurophysiology. In this study, the investigators hypothesize that conditioning the brain with transcutaneous electrical spinal stimulation, which reportedly induces cortical inhibition, would constrain the neural dynamics and promote focal and strong SMR modulations in subsequent MI-based BCI training sessions - leading to accelerated BCI training. To address the second challenge, the investigators hypothesize that neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) applied contingent to the voluntary activation of the primary motor cortex through MI can help differentiate patterns of activity associated with different hand movements of the same limb by consistently recruiting the separate neural pathways associated with each of the movements within a closed-loop BCI setup. The investigators study the neuroplastic changes associated with training with the two stimulation modalities.
- Status (registry)
- Recruiting
- Study type
- Interventional
- Enrollment
- 100 (estimated)
- First submitted
- 20 Dec 2021
- Start date
- 16 Jun 2021
- Primary completion date
- 30 Dec 2028
- Lead sponsor
- University of Texas at Austin
- Diseases
- Stroke, Multiple sclerosis
- NCT number
- NCT05183152
What you commit to
- Study type: Interventional
- Planned participants: 100
- From 16 Jun 2021 to the primary completion date, 30 Dec 2028
- 1 site in 1 country
- Visits and tests: ask the trial team, the registry does not list them
Built from the registry fields of ClinicalTrials.gov. It describes the study, not your situation.
Who cannot take part
Copied verbatim from ClinicalTrials.gov and grouped by topic. Only the trial team decides who can take part.
Prior treatment
- Subjects with motor disabilities
- short attentional spans or cognitive deficits that prevent the subject from concentrating during the whole experimental session
- heavy medication affecting the central nervous system (including vigilance)
- concomitant serious illness (e.g., metabolic disorders)
Other illness
- All participants
- factors hindering EEG/EMG acquisition and the delivery of non-invasive electrical stimulation (e.g., skin infection, wounds, dermatitis, metal implants under electrodes)
- criteria identified in safety guidelines for MRI and TMS, in particular metallic implants
Who the study is looking for
- Able-bodied participants:
- good general health
- normal or corrected vision
- no history of neurological/psychiatric disease
- ability to read and understand English (Research Personnel do not speak Spanish)
- Subjects with motor disabilities
- motor deficits due to: unilateral and bilateral stroke / spinal cord injury / motor neuron diseases (i.e. amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, spino-cerebellar ataxia, multiple sclerosis) / muscular diseases (i.e. myopathy) / traumatic or neurological pain / movement disorders (i.e. cerebral palsy) / orthopedic / traumatic brain injury / brain tumors
- normal or corrected vision
- ability to read and understand English
- ability to provide informed consent
Age in the registry: 18 years to 80 years · Sex: All · Accepts healthy volunteers
Sites (1)
Sites in registry order. Pick your city on the disease page to sort them by distance.
| Site | City | Country | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|
| The University of Texas at Austin Coordinator of this site? Confirm its status | Austin | United States | Recruiting |
This page is information, not medical advice. Discuss any trial with your doctor.