Transcranial Ultrasound Stimulation for Cognitive Function Modulation in Patients With Post COVID-19 Brain Fog

NCT ID: NCT07154199

Last Updated: 2025-09-04

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

40 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2023-01-06

Study Completion Date

2027-12-31

Brief Summary

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This study aims to investigate whether a specific brain region mediates the cognitive deficit in long COVID brain fog, and whether targeted modulation of this region can improve cognition.

In observational study, the objective was to identify potential intervention targets for patients with long COVID brain fog. A total of 120 patients with long COVID were enrolled. Brain fog (BF) severity was quantified using the Brain Fog Assessment (BFA). Participants completed a continuous random-dot motion (cRDM) task during 128-channel electroencephalography (EEG) and underwent structural MRI and standardized neuropsychological testing.

In interventional study, 40 participants with persistent BF symptoms were enrolled for transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS). On Day 1, participants completed the BFA and provided demographic data, then performed the baseline cRDM task; 20 minutes later, structural MRI and baseline resting-state MRI were acquired. On Day 2, participants received 60 seconds of TUS (active or sham) according to randomized allocation. Twenty minutes post-stimulation, an 8-minute resting-state MRI scan was obtained, followed immediately by the follow-up cRDM task.

Detailed Description

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Conditions

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COVID-19 Brain Fog Long COVID Transcranial Ultrasound Stimulation

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Participants

Study Groups

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sham stimulation group

In the sham group, the transducer power was turned off, pre-recorded pulse repetition sounds were played to control for auditory confounds. The equipment appearance is consistent with the device. Single stimulation, 60 seconds.

Group Type SHAM_COMPARATOR

sham transcranial ultrasound stimulation

Intervention Type DEVICE

In the sham group, the transducer power was turned off, pre-recorded pulse repetition sounds were played to control for auditory confounds. The equipment appearance is consistent with the test device. Single stimulation, 60 seconds.

real TUS group

Ultrasound stimulation was delivered using TPO-203 and H-104MR\_4AA-4CH transducer (Sonic Concepts, Woodinville, WA, USA). The target free-field spatial peak pulse-average intensity was maintained at 33.85 W/cm². The stimulation target is the right inferior Insula, according the results from observational study.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

real transcranial ultrasound stimulation

Intervention Type DEVICE

Ultrasound stimulation was delivered using TPO-203 and H-104MR\_4AA-4CH transducer (Sonic Concepts, Woodinville, WA, USA). In the real stimulation group, theta-burst TUS (Yaakub et al., 2024; Yaakub et al., 2023) was performed with the following parameters: pulse duration = 20 ms; pulse repetition interval = 200 ms; total duration = 80 s. The target free-field spatial peak pulse-average intensity was maintained at 33.85 W/cm². The stimulation target was defined as the overlapping region between the source localisation results and the right inferior insula in the Destrieux atlas

Interventions

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sham transcranial ultrasound stimulation

In the sham group, the transducer power was turned off, pre-recorded pulse repetition sounds were played to control for auditory confounds. The equipment appearance is consistent with the test device. Single stimulation, 60 seconds.

Intervention Type DEVICE

real transcranial ultrasound stimulation

Ultrasound stimulation was delivered using TPO-203 and H-104MR\_4AA-4CH transducer (Sonic Concepts, Woodinville, WA, USA). In the real stimulation group, theta-burst TUS (Yaakub et al., 2024; Yaakub et al., 2023) was performed with the following parameters: pulse duration = 20 ms; pulse repetition interval = 200 ms; total duration = 80 s. The target free-field spatial peak pulse-average intensity was maintained at 33.85 W/cm². The stimulation target was defined as the overlapping region between the source localisation results and the right inferior insula in the Destrieux atlas

Intervention Type DEVICE

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Patients should have a history of COVID-19 infection (positive test results for either polymerase chain reaction or rapid antigen test) and report persistent brain fog (BF) symptoms at least 4 weeks after recovering from acute COVID-19.

Exclusion Criteria

* 1\. Presence of any symptoms of cognitive impairment or other neurological symptoms prior to COVID-19 infection;
* 2\. Structural MRI revealing significant intracranial lesions or structural abnormalities;
* 3\. Development of severe neurological complications after COVID-19 infection, including delirium, cerebrovascular diseases, encephalitis, and epilepsy;
* 4\. Other disorders that may cause cognitive impairment, including Dementia, Schizophrenia spectrum disorders, stroke, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease.
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

75 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Xuanwu Hospital, Beijing

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

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Yi Tang, MD., PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Xuanwu Hospital, Beijing

Locations

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Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University

Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China

Site Status RECRUITING

Shandong Daizhuang Hospital

Jining, Shandong, China

Site Status RECRUITING

Countries

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China

Central Contacts

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Yi Tang, MD., PhD

Role: CONTACT

00861083198673

Shaojiong Zhou, MD.

Role: CONTACT

Facility Contacts

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Yi Tang, MD., PhD

Role: primary

00861083198673

Shaojiong Zhou, MD.

Role: backup

Kun Liu, MD

Role: primary

19553700077

Other Identifiers

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KS2022105-1

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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