The Role of Individualized Functional Connectivity Targeting in Accelerated Intelligent Neuromodulation Therapy (AINT) for Depression
Overview
- Phase
- Phase 2
- Intervention
- Not specified
- Conditions
- Depressive Disorder, Major
- Sponsor
- Brigham and Women's Hospital
- Enrollment
- 40
- Locations
- 1
- Primary Endpoint
- Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS)
- Status
- Active, Not Recruiting
- Last Updated
- 11 months ago
Overview
Brief Summary
The goal of this clinical trial is to estimate the importance of neuroimaging in accelerated intermittent theta burst stimulation (aiTBS) for depression. Participants will receive aiTBS treatment, but they will not know if their treatment spot was found with neuroimaging or head measurements.
Detailed Description
Techniques for modulating human brain networks are rapidly evolving. One of the most exciting new developments is accelerated intermittent theta burst stimulation (aiTBS), a transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) protocol that involves multiple daily treatments rather than gold standard once daily treatment. A specific accelerated iTBS protocol called Stanford Accelerated Intelligent Neuromodulation Therapy (SAINT) was cleared by the FDA in September 2022 based on two pilot studies in which patients with treatment-resistant depression rapidly and robustly improved with SAINT. Many of these patients had been depressed for decades and had not improved with conventional TMS or electroconvulsive therapy. Despite these promising results, two issues may limit SAINT scalability: 1) SAINT has only been tested at a single site in a small number of patients, 2) SAINT has never been tested without individualized resting state functional connectivity (rsfc) targeting, which is not widely available or covered by insurance. In this pilot trial, patients with treatment-resistant depression (n=40) will be randomized to one of two active treatment arms: 1) Real aiTBS with real individualized rsfc targeting, or 2) Real aiTBS with sham individualized rsfc targeting (i.e. conventional TMS targeting based on scalp landmarks). All patients will receive active stimulation, which will facilitate enrollment and reduce ethical concerns about placebo treatment in a vulnerable population when there is existing evidence of treatment efficacy. Patients and clinicians will be blind to group assignment, and blind integrity will be assessed. All patients will undergo MRI scans immediately before treatment and at one month follow up, which aligns with our clinical outcome measures.
Investigators
Joseph J. Taylor, MD, PhD
Medical Director of TMS
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria
- •English proficiency sufficient for informed consent, questionnaires/tasks, and treatment
- •Primary diagnosis of major depressive disorder per Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)-V criteria (MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview)
- •\>20 on BDI
- •\>20 on the MADRS 10, 11
- •Moderate to severe level of treatment resistance (Maudsley Staging Method)
- •Stable antidepressant medication regimen, or remain medication free, for 4 weeks prior to treatment and to remain on this regimen throughout the study (including all follow-up assessments after the 5-day treatment protocol).
- •Primary clinician responsible for psychiatric care before, during, and after the trial
- •Agreement to lifestyle considerations
- •Abstain from becoming pregnant from screening through end of treatment
- •Continue usual intake patterns of caffeine- or xanthine-containing products (e.g., coffee, tea, soft drinks, chocolate) throughout treatment
Exclusion Criteria
- •Active pregnancy as determined by a urine pregnancy test
- •Primary psychiatric diagnosis other than major depressive disorder requiring treatment other than comorbid anxiety disorder
- •Those who did not respond to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) after 8 sessions
- •Recent (within 4 weeks) or concurrent use of rapid acting antidepressant agent (ketamine/esketamine/ECT)
- •History of:
- •Prior exposure to TMS
- •Neurosurgical intervention for depression
- •Autism spectrum disorder
- •Intellectual disability
- •Severe cognitive impairment
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS)
Time Frame: one month after treatment
Depression severity rating scale (0-60, higher numbers indicate higher severity). The primary analysis of the primary outcome will be the effect size (i.e., Cohen's d) of imaging-guided accelerated TMS relative to scalp-targeted TMS. This outcome has not changed since the original grant application for this study. Actual group differences will be explored in a secondary analysis of this primary outcome measure. Note added May 2025: The description of the primary outcome measure was clarified. The primary outcome remains unchanged.
Secondary Outcomes
- Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS)(immediately after treatment ends)
- Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)(immediately after treatment ends and at all subsequent timepoints (1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, 12 months))
- Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (QIDS)(immediately after treatment ends and at all subsequent timepoints (1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, 12 months))
- Change in resting state functional connectivity in the depression network(one month after treatment)
- Percentage of screened patients from TMS clinical programs who select the accelerated iTBS trial over routine clinical TMS(through study completion, an average of 2 years)
- Temperament and Character Inventory, Revised 140-item(one month after treatment)
- Emotional Conflict Resolution Task(one month after treatment)
- Learning, Multi-Source Interference Task (MSIT)(one month after treatment)
- Penn Emotion Recognition Task (ER-40)(one month after treatment)
- Death Suicide IAT (DSIAT)(one month after treatment)
- Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI)(immediately after treatment ends and at all subsequent timepoints (1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, 12 months))