Study of the Acute Effects of Guided Imagery and tDCS on Pain Levels in Women With Chronic Pelvic Pain

Summary

This is a single blind, randomized, exploratory study of transcranial direct stimulation (tDCS) intervention or sham tDCS administered with a standardized guided imagery intervention for chronic pelvic pain. Transcranial Direct Current Sstimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation therapy. Guided Imagery is a form of hypnosis used to create relaxation.Up to 25 adult women with chronic pelvic pain will be enrolled and randomized (like a flip of a coin). Subjects will remain blinded throughout the study. Subjects will be randomized into one of the following four arms: active tDCS with guided imagery, active tDCS alone (without guided imagery), sham tDCS with guided imagery, or sham tDCS alone (without guided imagery).

Conditions

• Pelvic Pain
• Chronic Pain

Interventions

DEVICE

Active tDCS with guided imagery

The subject will be positioned in the sitting/reclining position in a quiet room with the lights dimmed. The tDCS device and audio headphones will be placed on the subject's head. The tDCS device to be used is the Soterix Medical 1X1 device using 2.0 mA of current. The electrodes that will be used will be standard sponge electrodes. The subject will listen to a scripted guided imagery CD specifically developed for women with chronic pelvic pain through the audio headphones. The guided imagery plus active tDCS arm will have 20 minutes of stimulation with 25 minutes of guided imagery.

DEVICE

Active tDCS alone (no guided imagery)

The subject will be positioned in the sitting/reclining position in a quiet room with the lights dimmed. The tDCS device will be placed on the subject's head. The tDCS device to be used is the Soterix Medical 1X1 device using 2.0 mA of current. The electrodes that will be used will be standard sponge electrodes. Active tDCS arm alone without guided imagery, will have 20 minutes of tDCS stimulation without guided imagery.

DEVICE

Sham tDCS with guided imagery

The subject will be positioned in the sitting/reclining position in a quiet room with the lights dimmed. The tDCS device and audio headphones will be placed on the subject's head. The tDCS device to be used is the Soterix Medical 1X1 device using 2.0 mA of current. The electrodes that will be used will be standard sponge electrodes. The subject will listen to a scripted guided imagery CD specifically developed for women with chronic pelvic pain through the audio headphones. The guided imagery plus sham tDCS arm will have 30 seconds of tDCS stimulation with 25 minutes of guided imagery.

DEVICE

Sham tDCS alone (no guided imagery)

The subject will be positioned in the sitting/reclining position in a quiet room with the lights dimmed. The tDCS device will be placed on the subject's head. The tDCS device to be used is the Soterix Medical 1X1 device using 2.0 mA of current. The electrodes that will be used will be standard sponge electrodes. Sham tDCS alone arm will have 30 seconds of tDCS stimulation without guided imagery.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• William Beaumont Hospitals

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Kenneth M Peters, MD · Beaumont Health

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

FACTORIAL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

64 Years

Sex

FEMALE

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2020-02-29

Primary Completion

2022-11-17

Completion

2022-11-17

FDA Device

Yes

Countries

• United States

Study Locations