Effects of Bodily Illusion and tDCS on SCI-related Neuropathic Pain

February 21, 2024 updated by: Eva Widerstrom-Noga, University of Miami

Effects of Bodily Illusion and tDCS on Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Related Neuropathic Pain

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of a combination of two procedures: (1) Bodily Illusion (BI) and (2) Transcranial direct electrical stimulation (tDCS) on neuropathic pain.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
8

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Florida
      • Miami, Florida, United States, 33136
        • University of Miami

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

14 years to 71 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Participants will be men or women, 18-70 years of age, with an incomplete cervical traumatic SCI.
  2. Participants must have experienced neuropathic pain for a minimum of six months. They must have neuropathic pain in the moderate to severe category, which will be defined as a score of at least 4 on a Numeric Rating Scale (NRS); (range of 0 to 10).
  3. Participants must be willing and able to sign informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Major psychiatric disease/disorder (self-reported)
  2. A significant neurological trauma besides SCI
  3. A recent (one-year) history of alcohol or drug abuse (selfreported)
  4. Any other medical conditions in which transcranial DCS is relatively contraindicated, such as pregnancy, epilepsy and/or seizures

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Basic Science
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: BI-TDCS Stimulation Group
Participants in this group will receive the BI and TDCS interventions for 10 sessions over two weeks.
Other: Bodily Illusions (BI) Procedure
Each sessions will consists of two types of illusions that are 15 min each, the rubber hand illusion (RHI) and the walking illusion (WI) that involve both arms and legs.
Device: Transcranial direct electrical stimulation (tDCS)
Each sessions will consists of electrical current delivered from a battery-driven, constant current stimulator using saline-soaked surface sponge electrodes. One electrode will be placed on your scalp on the right side and the other electrode over the left eye on your forehead. A weak current will be applied for 30 min at the same time as the BI.
Sham Comparator: BI-TDCS (Sham) Stimulation Group
Participants in this group will receive the BI and TDCS (Sham) interventions for 10 sessions over two weeks.
Other: Bodily Illusions (BI) Procedure
Each sessions will consists of two types of illusions that are 15 min each, the rubber hand illusion (RHI) and the walking illusion (WI) that involve both arms and legs.
Other: Sham Transcranial Direct Electrical Stimulation (tDCS)
Each session of the Sham tDCS will be applied for 30 min at the same time as the BI.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Neuropathic Pain Severity
Time Frame: baseline, up to two weeks
Assessed by the use of the Neuropathic Pain Symptom Inventory (NPSI). The NPSI has a total score ranging from 0 to 100 with the higher score indicating greater pain.
baseline, up to two weeks
Change in Performance of Body Part Processing
Time Frame: baseline, up to two weeks
Assessed by a customized computer task, where individual reaction times will be measured in response to mental rotation of body parts. Results will be reported in milliseconds.
baseline, up to two weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Sensory Thresholds
Time Frame: baseline, up to two weeks
Assessed by the Quantitative Sensory Testing. Pain thresholds are evaluated using Medoc machine (Medoc Ltd,Ramat Yishai, Israel and FDA approved. It assesses participants' ability to feel change in temperature (0°C to 50°C). The temperatures in this range may be felt as cool, cold, warm, and hot. A probe is placed on the skin and it feels either cool, cold, warm or hot. Participants' thresholds are recorded for cool or warm sensation, and for cold or hot painful thresholds.
baseline, up to two weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
University of Miami

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Florida

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Eva Widerstrom-Noga, PhD, University of Miami

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
January 13, 2021

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
March 10, 2023

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
March 10, 2023

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
October 2, 2020

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
October 2, 2020

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
October 8, 2020

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
March 19, 2024

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
February 21, 2024

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
February 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 20200841

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

Yes

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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