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Optimizing Stimulation Parameters for Electroconvulsive Therapy

Parameter Refinement for ECT Stimulation and Titration Optimization

Who can join

As published by the study on ClinicalTrials.gov. "Not stated" means the study hasn't said — ask the study team.

Age
No age limits stated
Sex
All sexes
Healthy volunteers
Not accepted
Compensation
Not stated

Other requirements are listed under Eligibility below. Only the study team can confirm whether you can join.

What to expect

No one can promise a trial will help you personally — that is what the research is trying to find out.

What participation involves

Not stated in the study description — ask the study team about visits and procedures.

Compensation
Not stated
  • Study-related exams and procedures are typically provided at no cost. This is how many trials work in general — confirm the details for this study with the study team.
  • Participants are monitored closely by the research team throughout the study.
  • Some participants may receive access to an investigational treatment, which is still being studied.
  • Your participation helps researchers learn whether this approach could help future patients.

About this study

In plain language

This study tests how to choose settings for electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), a treatment that uses electrical pulses to cause a seizure. Researchers will monitor brain activity and blood flow to see how different settings affect the brain. It is for people already receiving ECT at Pennsylvania Hospital, either starting treatment or getting ongoing care.

The goal of this clinical trial is to improve how electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) stimulation settings are chosen. Researchers will use real-time brain monitoring to measure both seizures and a recently identified brain event called cortical spreading depolarization (CSD). The main questions it aims to answer are: What is the best way to increase ECT stimulation settings? How do different pulse settings affect the brain's response? Can certain settings produce CSD without causing a seizure? Participants already receiving ECT as part of their care will take part. They will be assigned to one of two groups: Index ECT group: Participants starting ECT will receive different standard titration approaches. Maintenance ECT group: Participants receiving ongoing ECT will undergo a brief, low-dose stimulation test before treatment. All participants will be monitored using brain physiology (EEG and blood flow) and symptom scales during treatment.

Compensation is read from the study's own description and may be missing — always confirm with the study team.

Eligibility

Who can join

  • You are receiving ECT at Pennsylvania Hospital.
  • You are willing and able to take part.

Who can't join

  • You are unwilling or unable to first agree to the SWEET COMBO study plan, which uses light to monitor the brain during ECT.
  • You have another significant mental health condition that the study doctor and care team believe would change the study's risks or benefits for you.
  • ECT has worked poorly for you in the past, and the study doctor and care team believe this would change the study's risks or benefits for you.
  • You have a disease or physical condition that the study doctor believes could make participation unsafe, affect the study results, or keep you from finishing the study.

Simplified for readability. The official criteria below are what the study team uses.

Official eligibility criteria

Inclusion Criteria: * Any patients being treated with electroconvulsive therapy at Pennsylvania Hospital who are willing and able to participate are eligible to be subjects in this study. Exclusion Criteria: 1. They are unwilling or unable to consent first to the SWEET COMBO protocol for optical monitoring during ECT 2. Clinically significant psychiatric comorbidity as determined by clinical interview and in the opinion of the Investigator and clinical team would alter the risk/benefit of the study 3. History of poor response to ECT treatment in the opinion of the Investigator and clinical team that would alter the risk/benefit of the study 4. Presence of any disease, medical condition or physical condition that, in the opinion of the Investigator, may compromise, interfere with, limit, affect or reduce the: 1. subject's ability to participate safely in the study 2. integrity of the data or 3. subject's ability to complete the full duration of the study.

Study sites (1)

PA