Brain stimulation with hand therapy after stroke to aid hand movement
Tests brain stimulation with hand therapy in adults with weakness after stroke.
Plain-language title generated from the registry record
Registry title: tDCS + CCFES-mediated Functional Task Practice for Post-stroke Upper Extremity Hemiplegia
Key facts
- Where
- Cleveland, United StatesSee the site
Could this be for you?
Answer for yourself. This is not a decision: only the study team can say whether you can take part.
- Are you between 21 and 90 years old?
Source: NCT05866003, who can take part
Where in United States
- MetroHealth Medical CenterCleveland, United StatesTaking people
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?
Trial details
- Who runs it
- MetroHealth Medical Center
- Trial code
- NCT05866003
- Record updated
- 29 September 2025
- Original description
After a stroke, it is very common to lose the ability to open the affected hand. Occupational and physical rehabilitation therapy (OT and PT) combined with non-invasive brain stimulation may help a person recover hand movement.Read full original descriptionShow less
tDCS During Contralaterally Controlled FES for Upper Extremity Hemiplegia
After a stroke, it is very common to lose the ability to open the affected hand. Occupational and physical rehabilitation therapy (OT and PT) combined with non-invasive brain stimulation may help a person recover hand movement.
The purpose of this study is to compare 3 non-invasive brain stimulation protocols combined with therapy to see if they result in different amounts of recovery of hand movement after a stroke.
Inclusion: Age ≥ 21 and ≤ 90; ≥ 6 and ≤ 24 months since first clinical hemorrhagic or nonhemorrhagic stroke; Able to follow 3-stage command; Able to remember 2 of 3 items after 30 minutes; Full volitional elbow extension/flexion and hand opening/closing of unaffected limb; Adequate active movement of shoulder and elbow to position the paretic hand in the workspace for table-top task practice; Patient must be able to sit unassisted in an armless straight-back chair for the duration of the screening portion of the eligibility assessment; Medically stable; ≥ 10° finger and wrist extension; Skin intact on hemiparetic arm, hand and scalp; Muscle contraction can be elicited with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation; Unilateral upper limb hemiparesis with finger extensor strength of ≤ grade 4/5 on the Medical Research Council (MRC) scale; Score of ≥1/14 and ≤ 11/14 on the hand section of the upper extremity Fugl-Meyer Assessment; While relaxed, surface NMES of finger extensors and thumb extensors and/or abductors produces a functional degree of hand opening without pain.
Exclusion: Co-existing neurological condition other than prior stroke involving the hemiparetic upper limb (e.g., peripheral nerve injury, PD, SCI, TBI, MS); Uncontrolled seizure disorder; Use of seizure lowering threshold medications and the discretion of the study physician; Cardiac pacemaker or other implanted electronic device; Pregnant; IM Botox injections in any UE muscle in the last 3 months; Insensate arm, forearm, or hand; Deficits in communication that interfere with reasonable study participation; Severely impaired cognition and communication; Uncompensated hemi-neglect (extinguishing to double simultaneous stimulation); Severe shoulder or hand pain (unable to position hand in the workspace without pain).