The goal of this clinical intervention is to test if two forms of transcranial current stimulation, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) or transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) can alleviate neuropathic eye pain in a sample of 20 patients. The main aims are: * Test if tDCS/tACS can alleviate neuropathic eye pain and/or other cerebral symptoms: brain fatigue, migraine, light sensitivity, etc. * Test if one stimulation method is superior to the other Patients will be treated for a total of fifteen 30-minute stimulation sessions, three times a day over a five-day period, each stimulation separated by approximately 4 hours, with either active tACS or tDCS over the scalp corresponding to primary sensory and motor areas. The patients will have questionnaires to monitor subjective experiences and pupillometry before and after treatment to monitor experimental outcomes.
Brief Summary sufficient
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
20
Transcranial alternating current stimulation
Transcranial direct current stimulation
Eye Clinic, University Hospital in Linköping
Linköping, Other / Non-US, Sweden
RECRUITINGChange from baseline subjective pain via neuropathic pain symptom inventory for the eye (NPSI-eye) at 1 week
Assesses pain related symptoms on a scale from 0 indicating no pain (better outcome) to10 indicating worst pain imaginable (worse outcome)
Time frame: through treatment completion, 1 week
Change from baseline subjective pain via neuropathic pain symptom inventory for the eye (NPSI-eye) at 2 weeks
Assesses pain related symptoms on a scale from 0 indicating no pain (better outcome) to10 indicating worst pain imaginable (worse outcome)
Time frame: through treatment completion, 2 weeks
Change from baseline subjective pain via neuropathic pain symptom inventory for the eye (NPSI-eye) at 1 month
Assesses pain related symptoms on a scale from 0 indicating no pain (better outcome) to10 indicating worst pain imaginable (worse outcome)
Time frame: through treatment completion, 1 month
Change from baseline subjective pain effect experiences via Defense and Veteran Pain Rating Scale (DVPRS) at 1 week
Assesses pain related symptoms effecting sleep, stress, disposition, life quality, on a scale from 0 indicating no effect (better outcome) to10 indicating maximum effect (worse outcome)
Time frame: through treatment completion, 1 week
Change from baseline subjective pain effect experiences via Defense and Veteran Pain Rating Scale (DVPRS) at 2 weeks
Assesses pain related symptoms effecting sleep, stress, disposition, life quality, on a scale from 0 indicating no effect (better outcome) to10 indicating maximum effect (worse outcome)
Time frame: through treatment completion, 2 weeks
Change from baseline subjective pain effect experiences via Defense and Veteran Pain Rating Scale (DVPRS) at 1 month
Assesses pain related symptoms effecting sleep, stress, disposition, life quality, on a scale from 0 indicating no effect (better outcome) to10 indicating maximum effect (worse outcome)
Time frame: through treatment completion, 1 month
Change from baseline subjective mental symptoms via Mental Fatigue Scale (MFS) at 1 week
Assesses mental symptoms on a scale from 0 indicating no effect (better outcome) to 3 indicating extreme effect (worse outcome)
Time frame: through treatment completion, 1 week
Change from baseline subjective mental symptoms via Mental Fatigue Scale (MFS) at 2 weeks
Assesses mental symptoms on a scale from 0 indicating no effect (better outcome) to 3 indicating extreme effect (worse outcome)
Time frame: through treatment completion, 2 weeks
Change from baseline subjective mental symptoms via Mental Fatigue Scale (MFS) at 1 month
Assesses mental symptoms on a scale from 0 indicating no effect (better outcome) to 3 indicating extreme effect (worse outcome)
Time frame: through treatment completion, 1 month
Change from baseline subjective ocular symptoms and symptom frequency via custom ocular pain questionnaire at 1 week
Ocular pain questionnaire using a visual analog scale with 0 indicating no pain (better outcome) and 10 indicating extreme pain (worse outcome) and frequency measure from 0% indicating never occurring (better outcome) to 100% indicating always occurring (worse outcome)
Time frame: through treatment completion, 1 week
Change from baseline subjective ocular symptoms and symptom frequency via custom ocular pain questionnaire at 2 weeks
Ocular pain questionnaire using a visual analog scale with 0 indicating no pain (better outcome) and 10 indicating extreme pain (worse outcome) and frequency measure from 0% indicating never occurring (better outcome) to 100% indicating always occurring (worse outcome)
Time frame: through treatment completion, 1 month
Change from baseline subjective ocular symptoms and symptom frequency via custom ocular pain questionnaire at 1 month
Ocular pain questionnaire using a visual analog scale with 0 indicating no pain (better outcome) and 10 indicating extreme pain (worse outcome) and frequency measure from 0% indicating never occurring (better outcome) to 100% indicating always occurring (worse outcome)
Time frame: through treatment completion, 1 month
Number of patients with treatment-related adverse events as assessed by ocular pain questionnaire
Ocular pain questionnaire using a visual analog scale with 0 indicating no pain (better outcome) and 10 indicating extreme pain (worse outcome) and frequency measure from 0% indicating never occurring (better outcome) to 100% indicating always occurring (worse outcome)
Time frame: through treatment completion, 1 month
Change from baseline pupil diameter in millimeters at 1 week
Minimum and maximum pupil diameter in millimeters
Time frame: through treament completion, 1 week
Change from baseline pupil velocity in millimeters per second at 1 week
Pupil change velocity in millimeters per second
Time frame: through treament completion, 1 week
Change from baseline pupil latency in milliseconds at 1 week
Pupil latency latency in milliseconds
Time frame: through treament completion, 1 week
Treatment compliance rate
Evaluation of completed treatment from a total of 15
Time frame: through study completion, 1 year
This platform is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional.