NCT07486323

Combined Non-Invasive Brain and Visual Stimulation for Vision Improvement

Evaluation of Combined Non-invasive Brain Stimulation (NIBS) and Visual Tetanic Stimulation (VTS) for Vision Enhancement: A Randomized, Single-blind, Cross-over Trial

• Status: Not Yet Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 56 (estimated)
• Sponsor: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 40 Years – 80 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Glaucoma is a complex disease that can result in progressive vision loss. It is the second leading cause of blindness, accounting for 23% of permanent blindness in Hong Kong. There are no treatments that restore vision lost to glaucoma. This study will examine the effect of transcranial direct current stimulation (NIBS) on improving quality of life, visual function and functional performance in patients with peripheral field loss due to glaucoma.

Detailed description

This study uses a prospective, single-masked, randomized, cross-over, placebo-controlled training RCT design. The eligible participants will be randomly allocated into 4 groups: (A) Transcranial direct current stimulation; (B) Visual Tetanic Stimulation; (C) Transcranial direct current stimulation+ Visual Tetanic Stimulation; (D) Sham. All participants will underwent all the 4 types of intervention with a 14 days washing out period between intervention types: All participants will complete twenty-six study visits: Visit 1: Eligibility assessment (refer to the recruitment criteria); Visit 2: Outcome measures (Pre-intervention/ baseline); Visit 3-7: 5 sessions intervention (1st intervention block); Visit 8: Post 1 outcome measures; Visit 9-13: 5 sessions intervention (2nd intervention block); Visit 14: Post 2 outcome measures; Visit 15-19: 5 sessions intervention (3rd intervention block); Visit 20: Post 3 outcome measures; Visit 21-25: 5 sessions intervention (4th intervention block); Visit 26: Post 4 outcome measures Eight sessions of assessment will be conducted: (1) Baseline-1; (2) Post-1 (after 5-sessions training); (3) Baseline-2; (4) Post-2 (after 5-sessions training); (5) Baseline-3; (6) Post-3 (after 5-sessions training); (7) Baseline-4; and (8) Post-4 (after 5-sessions training).

Conditions

• Glaucoma Open-Angle

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	NIBS	Around 1 hour
OTHER	VTS	Around 1 hour
OTHER	NIBS+VTS	Around 1 hour
OTHER	Sham	Around 1 hour

Timeline

• Start date: 2026-04-20
• Primary completion: 2027-06-30
• Completion: 2027-07-10
• First posted: 2026-03-20
• Last updated: 2026-03-24

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Hong Kong