Testing an electrical muscle device to track ALS progression
Uses an electrical muscle scan to track amyotrophic lateral sclerosis progression in adults.
Plain-language title generated from the registry record
Registry title: EIM Via the Myolex mScan as an ALS Biomarker
Key facts
- Where
- Ann Arbor, Boston, Lebanon, Phoenix, and Winston-Salem, United StatesSee the 6 sites
Where in United States
- University of MichiganAnn Arbor, United StatesTaking people
- Beth Israel Deaconess Medical CenterBoston, United StatesTaking people
- Massachusetts General HospitalBoston, United StatesTaking people
- Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical CenterLebanon, United StatesTaking people
- Barrow Neurological InstitutePhoenix, United StatesTaking people
- Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical CenterWinston-Salem, 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
- Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
- Trial code
- NCT06491732
- Record updated
- 22 April 2026
- Original description
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has been traditionally considered incurable and untreatable. But starting in the 1990s with the introduction of Riluzole, therapies are being discovered and ultimately approved for slowing disease progression. Many pharmaceutical companies continue to seek new therapeutic approaches. One critical aspect of all clinical trials is the need track to progression sensitively to identify the impact of therapy. Tools to track ALS progression must be convenient, objective, require minimal training, be easily standardized, cost-efficient, and have the potential to be applied effectively at home. There has been a push to identify accurate, objective biomarkers of ALS progression. In this study, the investigators propose to use Electrical impedance myography (EIM) to evaluate the progression of the disease. Work has shown that the EIM 50 kilohertz (kHz) phase value from one or more muscles, followed sequentially, can serve as an effective overall biomarker for assessing the rate of ALS progression for a single person.Read full original descriptionShow less
Electrical Impedance Myography Via the Myolex mScan as an ALS Biomarker
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has been traditionally considered incurable and untreatable. But starting in the 1990s with the introduction of Riluzole, therapies are being discovered and ultimately approved for slowing disease progression. Many pharmaceutical companies continue to seek new therapeutic approaches. One critical aspect of all clinical trials is the need track to progression sensitively to identify the impact of therapy. Tools to track ALS progression must be convenient, objective, require minimal training, be easily standardized, cost-efficient, and have the potential to be applied effectively at home. There has been a push to identify accurate, objective biomarkers of ALS progression. In this study, the investigators propose to use Electrical impedance myography (EIM) to evaluate the progression of the disease. Work has shown that the EIM 50 kilohertz (kHz) phase value from one or more muscles, followed sequentially, can serve as an effective overall biomarker for assessing the rate of ALS progression for a single person.
Inclusion: Sporadic or familial ALS diagnosed as clinically possible, probable, lab-supported probable, or definite ALS defined by revised El Escorial criteria; Capable of providing informed consent and complying with study procedures in the investigator's opinion; Time since ALS symptom onset ≤36 months; Vital Capacity of ≥40% of predicted capacity as measured by forced vital capacity or slow vital capacity; Must have a study partner for home visits; Access to the internet for data upload; Age 18 years or older.
Exclusion: Clinically significant unstable medical condition (other than ALS) that would affect the participant's ability to participate, according to the investigator's judgment; Patient with pure upper motor neuron disease (PLS); Known history of unstable psychiatric disease, cognitive impairment, dementia, or active substance abuse; Active cancer or history of cancer treated with chemotherapy and/or radiation; Significant pitting edema (2+ or more) that would interfere with EIM measures; BMI >35.