Protocol for a living systematic review of randomised controlled trials on the clinical efficacy of transcranial pulse stimulation in neurological and psychiatric conditions

Introduction Transcranial pulse stimulation (TPS) is a novel technology with therapeutic promise for Alzheimer's disease. Given its novelty and the rapidly evolving research in neurology and mental health using this technology, large randomised controlled trials are expected.

Therefore, an independent and up-to-date synthesis of the available evidence is needed. In our effort to create a living systematic review of the clinical efficacy of TPS across various conditions, we aim to describe its methodology to ensure its transparency and scientific rigour.

This protocol details the predefined methods related to search frequencies, updates to the review and quantitative synthesis. Methods and analysis We will only include randomised controlled trials involving clinically diagnosed populations and comparing active TPS to sham TPS.

We will search MEDLINE, CENTRAL and Web of Science, as well as trial registries and grey literature. The principal searches in databases and trial registries will be rerun monthly, and new evidence will be integrated.

Study selection, data extraction and risk-of-bias assessments will be performed independently and in duplicate.