Lower Back Pain ChronicNCT07652944
Trial to Test the Efficacy of Using Magnetic Fields to Stimulate the Back to Treat Chronic Lower Back Pain.
A study testing peripheral magnetic stimulation and Home exercise in people with Lower Back Pain Chronic, run by Joe X. Zhang at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
The goal of this study is to see if a new way to treat back pain without the use of medications is effective. We plan use Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), a wand-like device, to excite the nerves of people with lower back pain to see if we can decrease pain and improve quality of life. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 to 64 years
- Conditions the study is for
- Lower Back Pain Chronic
- What is being tested?
- peripheral magnetic stimulation and Home exercise
- Type of treatment
- Medical device, Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- Yes, some participants may receive a placebo
- How many people
- 88 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- Jul 2026to Feb 2027
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 to 64 years
- All sexes
- No healthy volunteers
- Adult
Who may be able to join
- Diagnosed with chronic low back pain (greater than or equal to 12 weeks) with or without concurrent neck pain.
- Low back pain in the paraspinal region (L1-S2) by asking the patient to point to their area of pain.
- 18 - 64 years old (on the day of informed consent)
- Willing and able to attend all study visits.
- No medication changes for at least 30 days before study enrollment (self-report)
- Eligible for care at participating military treatment facilities
- Able to read and understand English.
- Negative pregnancy test for women capable of pregnancy.
Who cannot join
- Diagnosed with low back pain of less than 12 weeks duration
- History of back fractures or surgical repair of the back
- History of depression with vagus nerve stimulation
- Any type of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), or rPMS treatment prior to study enrollment.
- Currently using any other adjunctive treatments for chronic back pain such as low-level laser treatment, ultrasound, dry needling, chiropractor manipulations, cervical collars, TENS units, or other stimulation, eastern medicine regimens including Qi Gong or Tai Chi. (Exception: strength building physical therapy, non-neuropathic pain modifiers, and non-anticonvulsant routine pain medicine regimens such as NSAIDS and Acetaminophen are allowed).Scheduled for nerve ablation, dry needling, trigger point injections, nerve block, therapeutic ultrasound, other stimulation, or similar adjunct treatments during the study period.
- Diagnosed with a specific low back pain: osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, phantom limb pain, central pain syndrome, spinal cord damage, myofascial pain syndrome, or other more specific diagnosis (at investigators discretion).
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- Unstable or poorly controlled mental health diagnosis (e.g., current changes in medication or medical management).
- Dermal or subdermal implants (e.g., aneurysm clips, shunts, stimulators, ferro magnetic implants, stents, or electrodes, or pacemakers) or any other metal object within or near the site of stimulation which cannot be safely removed.
- Clinically significant abnormality or clinically significant unstable medical condition that, in the investigator's judgment, might pose a potential safety risk to the subject or limit interpretation of the trial results.
- Any condition which, in the judgment of the investigator, would prevent the patient from completing study procedures.
- Pregnancy
- Younger than 18 years old (on the day of informed consent)
- Older than 64 years old (on the day of informed consent)
- NOT willing or able to attend all study visits.
- Medication changes for back pain less than 30 days prior to study enrollment (self-report)
- NOT eligible for care at participating military treatment facilities
- NOT able to read and understand English.
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
United States1 site, 1 recruiting
- Recruiting
412 Medical Group
Edwards Air Force Base, California, 93524
About this study
Official title: A Single-Blind Randomized Clinical Trial to Evaluate the Efficacy of High Vector Electrokinetics (HiVE), A Form of Peripheral Magnetic Stimulation, In Treatment of Chronic Back Pain
The goal of this study is to see if a new way to treat back pain without the use of medications is effective. We plan use Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), a wand-like device, to excite the nerves of people with lower back pain to see if we can decrease pain and improve quality of life.
This study will have two groups and randomly assign participants to a group. One group will have their back nerves stimulated with the TMS device and the other group will not.
Participants will also need to do back exercises at home once a day, and complete questionnaires at each visit before and after each treatment. The total time commitment will be 5 to10 visits with one visit occurring each weekday and each visit lasting up to 30 minutes.
Read the detailed description
The purpose of this research study is to learn about magnetic nerve stimulation and if it can help treat back pain. We believe that magnetic nerve stimulation may improve pain symptoms. Nerve stimulation using electricity and needles is a relatively common medical procedure. This study will use magnetic fields to stimulate nerves to see if it has the same or better effect at decreasing back pain than just doing light workouts. This treatment has been used to treat back pain in the past but the frequency level we are testing has not been well-studied before. This means that the HiVE treatment protocol is still considered to be experimental for the treatment of lower back pain.
Participation in this study will include 5-10 visits one visit per day on weekdays with each session lasting up to 30 minutes and will include TMS treatment (2-3 minutes) and completion of questionnaires (12-30 minutes) before and after treatment. Individuals in the sham group will be offered open label trail of the actual stimulation if the participants desires.
There will be 88 people taking part in the study over a period of 6 months and the overall pain scores as well as a functional activity score will be used to determine effectiveness between treatment and sham groups.
- Conditions
- Lower Back Pain Chronic
- Being tested
- peripheral magnetic stimulation, Home exercise
- Keywords
- magnetic stimulation, lower back pain, rPMS, HiVE, repetitive peripheral magnetic stimulation
- Medical subject headings
- Low Back Pain
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
peripheral magnetic stimulationDevice
Also called magnetic stimulation, rPMS, repetitive magnetic stimulation, repetitive peripheral magnetic stimulation
Our stimulation protocol is ssing approximately 0.3 tesla to 0.58 tesla of magnetic power using a variable stimulation frequency between 11ms and 14ms with center value of 13ms between pulses. This translates to estimated values of lower bounds of 71.43 Hz, central value of 83 Hz, and maximum value of 99 Hz .
Home exerciseBehavioural
Also called back pain exercises, home physical therapy, Neutral Curl Up with Straight Leg, Plank on Elbow
All patients will receive a home exercise guide and recommended to perform the stated number of repetitions of those exercises. Exercises include Neutral Curl Up with Straight Leg, Plank on Elbow, and Bird Dog positions.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Treatment Arm | Experimental | Individuals in this arm receive magnetic stimulation to the area of the lower back where they have pain from sessions 1 through 5. We begin stimulation operation at 20% advancing in 5% increments to maximum of 35% machine power which in our case is approximately 0.3 tesla to 0.58 tesla of power (a typical outpatient MRI is 1.5 to 3 tesla). The power of the unit will be titrated up to the maximum 35% based on patient tolerance by asking participants to "Tell me if you feel a painful muscle contraction". Patients receiving active therapy would be able to feel the stimulus usually described as a vibration sensation. If patients report painful muscle contractions, stop and go back by 5%. Doing this helps ensure that we would not cause any potentially painful muscle contractions and avoid confounding our test data. The first treatment will start at 20% power then increase by 5% until the titrated power level is identified, subsequent treatments will start at the power level last used. Receives: Device: peripheral magnetic stimulation; Behavioral: Home exercise |
| Sham Arm | Sham comparator | The investigators will configure the rPMS device to not utilize any power, then place the treatment wand over the participant's back pain area and hit the start button like they do in the treatment arm. When the power setting is set to zero, the magnetic wand will not generate any power but will still make the customary computer-generated tones as it does in normal operation. The device is set to play a completed tone once 2 minutes and 30 seconds have elapsed just as it does in the normal treatment. The investigator will then replace the wand back to the storage position and notify the patient that the session is completed.
Following completion of 5 sessions, the sham group will be offered to receive up to 5 sessions of real rPMS stimulation. The data from the sham treatment and real rPMS treatment for these patients will be tracked separately. Receives: Behavioral: Home exercise |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Visual Analog Scale
Visual Analog Scale or VAS is a common self reported pain measurement scale from 0 - 100 with 0 being pain free and 100 being most pain possible.
Measured: VAS numbers are obtained at: Baseline, pre-intervention. Immediately before each intervention Immediately after each intervention
Secondary outcomes (1)
ODI
Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) is a set of questions used to identify participant's functional status as related to activities of daily living.
Measured: Scores are obtained at: Baseline, pre-intervention. Immediately after intervention session 2 Immediately after intervention session 5 Immediately after intervention session 10 for those that elect to opt in for open label portion of study
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted17 Jun 2026
- Study startJul 2026 (estimated)
- Primary completionNov 2026 (estimated)
- Study completionFeb 2027 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Lower Back Pain ChronicStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Crossover
- Model description
- single blind study where the sham group will be offered the treatment modality after having gone through 5 sham treatments. The treatment group will receive treatment but due to ability to feel the stimulations, it would not be possible to blind them for sham tests after receiving treatments.
- Masking
- Single blind
- Who is masked
- Participant
- Enrolment
- 88 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Joe X. Zhang
- Sponsor type
- US federal agency
- Responsible party
- Sponsor-investigator, Joe X. Zhang, Madigan Army Medical Center
- Investigators
- Joe Zhang, MD, Study director, United States Air Force
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07652944
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- FDG20240078H
- Other IDs
- 23S005
- Status last verified
- May 2026
- First submitted
- 27 May 2026
- Last updated
- 17 Jun 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- Yes
- Individual data sharing
- Yes: measured variables such as VAS and ODI scales for the study along with power tolerated by de-identified individuals using participant ID only can be shared.
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 17 Jun 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- A Single-Blind Randomized Clinical Trial to Evaluate the Efficacy of High Vector Electrokinetics (HiVE), A Form of Peripheral Magnetic Stimulation, In Treatment of Chronic Back Pain
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07652944
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- FDG20240078H
- Conditions
- Lower Back Pain Chronic
- Keywords
- magnetic stimulation, lower back pain, rPMS, HiVE, repetitive peripheral magnetic stimulation
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Recruiting
- Enrolment
- 88 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- Joe X. ZhangUS federal agency
- Study start
- Jul 2026 (estimated)
- Primary completion
- Nov 2026 (estimated)
- Study completion
- Feb 2027 (estimated)
- First posted
- 17 Jun 2026 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
The goal of this study is to see if a new way to treat back pain without the use of medications is effective. We plan use Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), a wand-like device, to excite the nerves of people with lower back pain to see if we can decrease pain and improve quality of life.
This study will have two groups and randomly assign participants to a group. One group will have their back nerves stimulated with the TMS device and the other group will not.
Participants will also need to do back exercises at home once a day, and complete questionnaires at each visit before and after each treatment. The total time commitment will be 5 to10 visits with one visit occurring each weekday and each visit lasting up to 30 minutes.
Detailed description
The purpose of this research study is to learn about magnetic nerve stimulation and if it can help treat back pain. We believe that magnetic nerve stimulation may improve pain symptoms. Nerve stimulation using electricity and needles is a relatively common medical procedure. This study will use magnetic fields to stimulate nerves to see if it has the same or better effect at decreasing back pain than just doing light workouts. This treatment has been used to treat back pain in the past but the frequency level we are testing has not been well-studied before. This means that the HiVE treatment protocol is still considered to be experimental for the treatment of lower back pain.
Participation in this study will include 5-10 visits one visit per day on weekdays with each session lasting up to 30 minutes and will include TMS treatment (2-3 minutes) and completion of questionnaires (12-30 minutes) before and after treatment. Individuals in the sham group will be offered open label trail of the actual stimulation if the participants desires.
There will be 88 people taking part in the study over a period of 6 months and the overall pain scores as well as a functional activity score will be used to determine effectiveness between treatment and sham groups.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Crossover
- Masking
- Single blind (participant)
- Number of arms
- 2
- Model description
- single blind study where the sham group will be offered the treatment modality after having gone through 5 sham treatments. The treatment group will receive treatment but due to ability to feel the stimulations, it would not be possible to blind them for sham tests after receiving treatments.
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Treatment Arm | Experimental | Device: peripheral magnetic stimulation, Behavioral: Home exerciseIndividuals in this arm receive magnetic stimulation to the area of the lower back where they have pain from sessions 1 through 5. We begin stimulation operation at 20% advancing in 5% increments to maximum of 35% machine power which in our case is approximately 0.3 tesla to 0.58 tesla of power (a typical outpatient MRI is 1.5 to 3 tesla). The power of the unit will be titrated up to the maximum 35% based on patient tolerance by asking participants to "Tell me if you feel a painful muscle contraction". Patients receiving active therapy would be able to feel the stimulus usually described as a vibration sensation. If patients report painful muscle contractions, stop and go back by 5%. Doing this helps ensure that we would not cause any potentially painful muscle contractions and avoid confounding our test data. The first treatment will start at 20% power then increase by 5% until the titrated power level is identified, subsequent treatments will start at the power level last used. |
| Sham Arm | Sham comparator | Behavioral: Home exerciseThe investigators will configure the rPMS device to not utilize any power, then place the treatment wand over the participant's back pain area and hit the start button like they do in the treatment arm. When the power setting is set to zero, the magnetic wand will not generate any power but will still make the customary computer-generated tones as it does in normal operation. The device is set to play a completed tone once 2 minutes and 30 seconds have elapsed just as it does in the normal treatment. The investigator will then replace the wand back to the storage position and notify the patient that the session is completed. Following completion of 5 sessions, the sham group will be offered to receive up to 5 sessions of real rPMS stimulation. The data from the sham treatment and real rPMS treatment for these patients will be tracked separately. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 to 64 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Adult
Key inclusion criteria (8 listed)
- Diagnosed with chronic low back pain (greater than or equal to 12 weeks) with or without concurrent neck pain.
- Low back pain in the paraspinal region (L1-S2) by asking the patient to point to their area of pain.
- 18 - 64 years old (on the day of informed consent)
- Willing and able to attend all study visits.
- No medication changes for at least 30 days before study enrollment (self-report)
Key exclusion criteria (17 listed)
- Diagnosed with low back pain of less than 12 weeks duration
- History of back fractures or surgical repair of the back
- History of depression with vagus nerve stimulation
- Any type of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), or rPMS treatment prior to study enrollment.
- Currently using any other adjunctive treatments for chronic back pain such as low-level laser treatment, ultrasound, dry needling, chiropractor manipulations, cervical collars, TENS units, or other stimulation, eastern medicine regimens including Qi Gong or Tai Chi. (Exception: strength building physical therapy, non-neuropathic pain modifiers, and non-anticonvulsant routine pain medicine regimens such as NSAIDS and Acetaminophen are allowed).Scheduled for nerve ablation, dry needling, trigger point injections, nerve block, therapeutic ultrasound, other stimulation, or similar adjunct treatments during the study period.
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| peripheral magnetic stimulationAlso: magnetic stimulation, rPMS, repetitive magnetic stimulation, repetitive peripheral magnetic stimulationOur stimulation protocol is ssing approximately 0.3 tesla to 0.58 tesla of magnetic power using a variable stimulation frequency between 11ms and 14ms with center value of 13ms between pulses. This translates to estimated values of lower bounds of 71.43 Hz, central value of 83 Hz, and maximum value of 99 Hz . | Device | Treatment Arm |
| Home exerciseAlso: back pain exercises, home physical therapy, Neutral Curl Up with Straight Leg, Plank on ElbowAll patients will receive a home exercise guide and recommended to perform the stated number of repetitions of those exercises. Exercises include Neutral Curl Up with Straight Leg, Plank on Elbow, and Bird Dog positions. | Behavioural | Sham Arm, Treatment Arm |
Primary outcome
Visual Analog Scale
Time frame: VAS numbers are obtained at: Baseline, pre-intervention. Immediately before each intervention Immediately after each intervention
Visual Analog Scale or VAS is a common self reported pain measurement scale from 0 - 100 with 0 being pain free and 100 being most pain possible.
1 secondary outcome
ODI
Time frame: Scores are obtained at: Baseline, pre-intervention. Immediately after intervention session 2 Immediately after intervention session 5 Immediately after intervention session 10 for those that elect to opt in for open label portion of study
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 17 Jun 2026.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: Yes. measured variables such as VAS and ODI scales for the study along with power tolerated by de-identified individuals using participant ID only can be shared.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part.
Joe Zhang, MD study director
United States Air Force
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing peripheral magnetic stimulation and Home exercise in people with Lower Back Pain Chronic, run by Joe X. Zhang at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 8 inclusion and 17 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: looking for participants now, as of the sponsor's last update on 17 Jun 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. Some participants in this study may receive a placebo. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
Contact Joe Zhang, MD (415-619-9997, joe.x.zhang.mil@health.mil), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Visual Analog Scale (time frame: VAS numbers are obtained at: Baseline, pre-intervention. Immediately before each intervention Immediately after each intervention). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 17 Jun 2026.