Measuring Vestibular Organ Function With Weak Alternating Current Stimulation

Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to preliminarily evaluate the use of electrical stimulation in diagnosing disorders with the vestibular system. The main questions it aims to answer are:

* Can electrical vestibular stimulation combined with movement measurement be used to diagnose disorders of the vestibular system?
* Can electrical stimulation provide treatment or rehabilitation opportunities for patients suffering from disorders of the vestibular system?

Conditions

• Vestibular Disorder
• Vestibular Schwannoma
• Vestibular Neuritis

Interventions

DEVICE

Active transcranial electrical vestibular stimulation (Active EVS)

Active transcranial electrical vestibular stimulation (EVS) with alternating current (maximum peak current below 2 mA and stimulation frequency 2-20 Hz) applied for 1-3 minutes at a time and for under 20 minutes in total. EVS will be applied either bilaterally (ear to ear) or unilaterally (left ear to neck or right ear to neck). The participants movements during the stimulation are measured with a force plate and wearable acceleration sensors. The study uses multiple types of vestibular stimulation waveforms which are applied in a randomized sequence, such that neither the participant nor the investigator know the exact stimulation type at the time of the measurement.

DEVICE

Sham transcranial electrical vestibular stimulation (Sham EVS)

Sham (no current) transcranial electrical vestibular stimulation applied for 1-3 minutes. The participant's movements during the supposed stimulation are measured with a force plate and wearable acceleration sensors. Neither the participant nor the investigator know at what point of the intervention sequence the sham stimulation is applied.

DEVICE

Control measurement

The participant's movements are measured with a force plate and wearable acceleration sensors for the same time duration (1-3 min) and following the same protocols as in other interventions, but both the participant and the investigator know that no stimulation is being applied. The control measurement will always be completed before all other interventions and is not part of the randomized intervention sequence.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Helsinki University Central Hospital

  collaborator OTHER

• Business Finland

  collaborator OTHER

• Aalto University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Ilkka Laakso, D.Sc. (Tech) · Aalto University

• Topi Jutila, MD, PhD · HUS Helsinki University Hospital

Study Design

Allocation

NA

Purpose

DIAGNOSTIC

Masking

NONE

Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

70 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2026-01-31

Primary Completion

2027-12-31

Completion

2027-12-31

Countries

• Finland

Study Locations