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NCT03261505

Mechanistic Studies on Video-guided Acupuncture Imagery Treatment of Knee Pain

Completed NA Results posted Last updated 5 November 2025
What this trial tests

NA trial testing Acupuncture in Osteoarthritis, Knee in 125 participants. Completed in 31 August 2023.

Timeline
4 August 2019
Primary endpoint
29 August 2023
31 August 2023

Quick facts

Lead sponsorMassachusetts General Hospital
PhaseNA
StatusCompleted
Study typeINTERVENTIONAL
Allocationrandomized
Designparallel
Maskingsingle
Primary purposebasic science
Enrollment125
Start date4 August 2019
Primary completion29 August 2023
Estimated completion31 August 2023
Sites1 location across United States

Drugs / interventions tested

Conditions studied

Sponsor

Massachusetts General Hospital

Who can join

Adults 40 to 70, any sex, with Osteoarthritis, Knee. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Results — posted to ClinicalTrials.gov

Per-arm endpoint measurements with 95% confidence intervals where reported. Source: trial results section.

fMRI Signal Increases Primary · Collected once during the first treatment session

fMRI measures changes in brain activity by detecting fluctuations in blood oxygenation levels. The primary signal used in fMRI is the Blood Oxygen Level Dependent (BOLD) signal, which reflects neuronal activity indirectly through hemodynamic responses.

GroupValue95% CI
VGAIT.42± .27
VGAIT Control.48± .47
Real Acupuncture.47± .37
Sham Acupuncture.33± .32
PAG Resting State Connectivity Secondary · baseline and after one month treatment

The resting state functional connectivity of periaqueduct grey (PAG) before and after intervention. Resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) is assessed by analyzing spontaneous BOLD signal fluctuations in different brain regions when a subject is at rest, providing insights into intrinsic brain network organization. Preprocessing steps, including motion correction, spatial normalization, and noise removal, ensure data accuracy.

GroupValue95% CI
VGAIT.09± .13
VGAIT Control.09± .1
Real Acupuncture.1± .08
Sham Acupuncture.08± .12

Adverse events — posted to ClinicalTrials.gov

Time frame: Through the whole interventions, average about one month.. Reporting threshold: 0%. Adverse-event reports describe events observed during the trial — not all are caused by the drug.

VGAIT
Serious: 0/30 (0%)
Deaths: 0/30
VGAIT Control
Serious: 0/30 (0%)
Deaths: 0/30
Real Acupuncture
Serious: 0/34 (0%)
Deaths: 0/34
Sham Acupuncture
Serious: 0/31 (0%)
Deaths: 0/31
Other adverse events (1 terms — click to expand)

ReactionSystemVGAITVGAIT ControlReal AcupunctureSham Acupuncture
Ringing of earEar and labyrinth disorders

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03261505 adverse events section.

Sponsor's own description

The aim of this study is to investigate brain response and connectivity changes evoked by video-guided acupuncture imagery treatment (VGAIT) and verum and sham acupuncture in knee osteoarthritis patients to elucidate the underlying brain mechanisms of mind-body interaction, imagery, and acupuncture.

Publications & conference data

No peer-reviewed publications indexed yet for this trial. Completed trials usually publish results within 12-18 months.

Verify or expand the search:

Other trials of Acupuncture

Trials testing the same drug.

Other recruiting trials for Osteoarthritis, Knee

Currently open trials in the same condition.

Other Massachusetts General Hospital trials

Trials by the same sponsor.

Verify against primary sources

Data sources for this page

Drug Landscape aggregates and links these public records for informational use only. Always verify against the primary source before clinical or regulatory decisions. Canonical URL: https://druglandscape.com/trial/NCT03261505.

Primary sources · FDA · ClinicalTrials.gov · EMA · SEC EDGAR · ChEMBL · Wikidata · full sourcing