Neurofeedback-EEG-VR System for Non-opioid Pain Therapy (NEVR)

Neurofeedback-EEG-VR (NEVR) System for Non-opioid Pain Therapy

This study will assess the feasibility of developing the Neurofeedback-EEG-VR (NEVR) system for non-opioid pain therapy. Subjects suffering from pain will undergo sessions involving VR and Neurofeedback training and their pain will be assessed.

Study Overview

• Status: Terminated
• Conditions: Pain Management
• Intervention / Treatment: Device: NEVR

Detailed Description

QUASAR and UCSD are conducting a clinical trial on 25 subjects to evaluate the feasibility of a novel Neurofeedback electroencephalography (EEG) Virtual Reality (VR) system aimed at reducing chronic pain. The NEVR device consists of a dry electrode EEG headset combined with a VR Head-Mounted Display (VR-HMD) device and neurofeedback software. This approach relies on retraining the brain's networks to reduce the perception of pain and does not involve pharmaceutical drugs. Patients with chronic lower back pain will be recruited by UCSD at its Altman Clinical & Translational Research Institute. Patients that meet the recruitment criteria will be asked to conduct 20 1-hour long sessions of EEG-based Neurofeedback in VR over the course of a couple of months. Pain assessment and device usability questionnaires will be conducted prior to and after the first and last sessions, and at intermediate time points. This will be a single arm clinical trial aimed at demonstrating the safety and viability of the NEVR device, with the primary outcome measure being the ability of patients to conduct all 20 sessions safely and comfortably. Secondary outcome measures include assessment of changes in pain perception, and of changes in EEG activity patterns.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 11
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • San Diego, California, United States, 92037
      • Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 17 years to 90 years (Child, Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Chronic back pain that can be of multifactorial etiology inclusive of axial and radicular back pain
• Report a Numerical Rating Scale (NRS, or Visual Analog Score VAS) score of greater than 6/10
• Must be willing to for the duration of the study make no pharmacological adjustments or have additional Interventional therapies, as reported by the patient
• Must have the cognitive capacity to provide consent/assent
• Must be able to sit up in a chair during the recording session
• Must demonstrate understanding of the protocol, its purpose and subject participation
• Must be fluent in English

Exclusion Criteria:

• Measured head size too small or too large for the EEG equipment
• Any significant skull defect
• History of a recent craniotomy (within the last six months)
• Any signs of scalp inflammation, irritation, or abnormal skin conditions
• History of epilepsy or seizures
• Known allergies to any material to be used in this project
• Sight disabilities that make participation impractical
• Hair styles with thick braids or dread locks

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Single; Single group to receive intervention	Device: NEVR; a non-invasive, non-pharmacological alternative to treat pain by combining an innovative electroencephalography (EEG)-based Neurofeedback solution in an immersive virtual reality (VR) environment.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Adverse Effect on Pain	Subjects' back pain will be assessed prior to and after the first, 10th and last sessions via the following standardized subjective, objective, behavioral and functional evaluation tests: 1) Numerical Rating Scale (NRS, or Visual Analog Pain Score (VAS), 2) The DALLAS scale; 3) Patient Assessment Global Change. The researchers will compare the before and after session results to determine if the sessions had a negative impact on the patients' perceived pain.	up to 6 months
Percent of Patients Completing the Study	The researchers will calculate the percentage of patients who complete all 20 sessions of the study without any adverse effects nor any discomfort from the device or VR.	up to 6 months
Patient Tolerance of Device	The researchers will survey the subjects about their comfort of wearing the device after each session on a scale of 1-10, where 1 is intolerable, 5 is just tolerable, and 10 is most comfortable. The researchers refer to this as the Comfort Scale.	up to 6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Changes in Pain Perception	The researchers will evaluate changes in pain perception over the course of the 20 sessions as determined by the pain questionnaires listed above. The researchers will plot the changes and calculate the percent change between the first to last measurement.	6 months
Dose Response	The researchers will analyze the relationship between the number of sessions completed and the reported pain score of each of the three pain scales, as well as the EEG alpha synchrony. The research team will calculate a trendline to determine if there is a positive or negative trend and calculate a correlation index.	up to 6 months
Signal Quality	The researchers will also calculate the percentage of the acquired EEG signal that is deemed to be unusable due to contamination by noise or artifacts (other than EMG or blink artifacts), as defined by regions where the root mean square (RMS) signal amplitude exceeds 100 microV.	up to 6 months
Changes in EEG Activity Patterns	The researchers will calculate synchrony in electroencephalographic (EEG) alpha band (at 10Hz) across the temporal and central electrodes over the course of the 20 sessions. The researchers will compare the percentage of synchrony changes inter- and intra-sessions.	up to 6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Quantum Applied Science & Research, Inc.
• Collaborators: University of California, San Diego
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Walid Soussou, PhD, Quantum Applied Science & Research (QUASAR), Inc.

Publications and helpful links

Helpful Links

• Lead organization website
• NIH Funding Initiative
• Subaward research site

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 7, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 31, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): March 31, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 13, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 10, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): September 16, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): November 10, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 24, 2025
• Last Verified: October 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Perceptual Disorders; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Signs and Symptoms; Agnosia
• Other Study ID Numbers: R43DA050380 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: Yes