---
title: Reduce tremor using Medtronic Activa
nct_id: NCT01581580
phase: NA
status: RECRUITING
sponsor: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
study_type: INTERVENTIONAL
canonical_url: "https://parkinsonspathways.com/trial/NCT01581580"
clinicaltrials_gov: "https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT01581580"
last_fetched: "2026-05-10T14:04:42.616Z"
source: "Parkinson's Pathways (curated)"
---
# Reduce tremor using Medtronic Activa

**Goal (in five words):** Reduce tremor using Medtronic Activa

**Official Title:** Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery for Movement Disorders

**Trial ID:** [NCT01581580](https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT01581580)

## Key Facts

- **Phase:** NA
- **Status:** RECRUITING
- **Study Type:** INTERVENTIONAL
- **Sponsor:** National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
- **Target Enrollment:** 200 participants
- **Start Date:** 2011-08-17
- **Completion Date:** 2029-12-01
- **Conditions:** Parkinson's Disease, Essential Tremor, Dystonia
- **Interventions:** Medtronic Activa Tremor Control System, Deep Brain Stimulation
- **Intervention Types:** DEVICE, PROCEDURE

## Summary For Families

The goal is to reduce disabling movement problems like tremor, stiffness, slowness, or dystonic postures when medications are not controlling symptoms. It uses the Medtronic Activa Tremor Control System, a surgically implanted deep brain stimulation device that delivers continuous electrical pulses to targeted brain regions to quiet abnormal circuits that cause tremor and other motor issues, often improving symptoms and allowing lower levodopa doses or fewer on/off swings. To join, you must be 18 to 99, able to give informed consent, and have a diagnosis confirmed by the NIH movement disorders team of idiopathic Parkinson's not adequately controlled by meds, primary dystonia refractory to treatment, or essential tremor causing significant disability despite medication. People who cannot or will not give informed consent are excluded.

## Eligibility

- **Minimum age:** 18 Years
- **Maximum age:** 99 Years
- **Sex:** ALL

### Full Criteria

```
* INCLUSION CRITERIA:

To be eligible for entry into the study, candidates must meet all the following criteria:

Be 18 years of age or older.

Able to provide informed consent.

Have a clinical diagnosis of one of the following as confirmed by the NIH movement disorders clinic team and the multi-disciplinary DBS surgical conference, and deemed as appropriate for the use of Deep Brain Stimulation therapy:

* idiopathic PD not adequately controlled with medication or
* primary dystonia that is medically refractory, or
* ET that is not adequately controlled by medications or constitutes a significant functional disability.

EXCLUSION CRITERIA:

Candidates will be excluded if they:

Are unable or unwilling to give informed consent to the research procedures.
```

## Locations (1)

- National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, United States _(38.9807, -77.1003)_
  - For more information at the NIH Clinical Center contact Office of Patient Recruitment (OPR) — (CONTACT) — 800-411-1222 — ccopr@nih.gov

## Central Contacts

- Sharon C Park — (CONTACT) — (301) 496-2921 — sharon.park@nih.gov

---

*Canonical: https://parkinsonspathways.com/trial/NCT01581580*  
*HTML version: https://parkinsonspathways.com/trial/NCT01581580*  
*Source data: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT01581580*