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Noninvasive Thalamocortical Neuromodulation With Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound for Persistent Developmental Stuttering
Sponsor: University of Michigan
Summary
This research is studying the use of low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU; a mild, noninvasive acoustic stimulation technique) in a small number of people to learn about its safety as a treatment for stuttering. LIFU is a small, safe sound signal that produces a gentle, pulsing flow of acoustic waves to help different parts of the brain communicate with each other. Researchers want to understand how the mild, non-invasive brain stimulation affects speech relevant brain areas, which may in turn affect speech fluency and speaking-related brain activity in people who stutter.
Key Details
Gender
All
Age Range
18 Years - 65 Years
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Enrollment
20
Start Date
2026-06
Completion Date
2027-06
Last Updated
2026-06-25
Healthy Volunteers
No
Conditions
Interventions
High DC LIFU
Stimulation parameters and target location. Stimulation will be delivered using the BrainSonix BXPulser 10002 System (BrainSonix Corporation, Sherman Oaks, CA, USA). Sonication Parameters will be as follows. Fundamental frequency: 650 kHz; pulse repetition frequency: 10Hz; pulse duration: 100ms; DC: 70% (yielding pulse width of 70 ms); sonication duration: 30 s; inter-sonication interval: 30s; LIFU-ON epochs per block: 12 epochs (Jang et al., 2025). During active stimulation a total of 4.2 min stimulation will be applied across all LIFU-ON epochs. Both active and sham stimulation sessions will last \~12 mins each. The researchers will be targeting ventral intermediate nucleus (VIM) region of the thalamus for the active stimulation.
Sham
Stimulation parameters and target location. Stimulation will be delivered using the BrainSonix BXPulser 10002 System (BrainSonix Corporation, Sherman Oaks, CA, USA). Sonication Parameters will be as follows. Fundamental frequency: 650 kHz; pulse repetition frequency: 10Hz; pulse duration: 100ms; DC: 70% (yielding pulse width of 70 ms); sonication duration: 30 s; inter-sonication interval: 30s; LIFU-ON epochs per block: 12 epochs (Jang et al., 2025). During sham stimulation a total of 4.2 min stimulation will be applied across all LIFU-ON epochs. Both active and sham stimulation sessions will last \~12 mins each. The researchers will be targeting anterior nucleus of thalamus (ANT) as the sham control with previous literature utilizing ANT-LIFU as a non-motor thalamus modulation.
Locations (1)
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States