Extending taVNS Paired With Infant CIMT Into a Home-Based Setting

Extending taVNS Paired With Infant CIMT Into a Home-Based Setting: Technology Development Requisite for a Randomized Trial

Newborns who are born premature or suffer brain injury at birth are at risk for motor problems that may cause weakness in reaching and grasping on one side of the body. In older children, therapists may use a hand mitt and restraint for the stronger arm, to encourage use of the weaker side, called constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT). Even with the high intensity therapy of CIMT, it typically takes between 40-120 hours total treatment time for most children to improve their motor skills. A non-invasive form of nerve stimulation, transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS), stimulates a nerve by the ear that enhances learning motor skills. taVNS stimulation will be triggered by EMG sensors which detect muscle activity. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of taVNS to improve motor skills when paired with CIMT in infants with one-sided weakness at 6-18 months of age.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Cerebral Palsy
• Intervention / Treatment: Combination product: Custom EMG triggered Soterix taVNS stimulation with CIMT therapy in lab; Combination product: Custom EMG triggered Soterix taVNS stimulation with CIMT therapy in home

Detailed Description

Preterm birth and complications in term births can result in increased risk for intraventricular hemorrhage, global hypoxia-ischemia (HIE), arterial stoke, and neuroinflammation with white matter injury in newborns. Centeral Nervous System (CNS) injuries then may manifest as early developmental delays and motor weakness in the first 12 months, that presage hemiplegic cerebral palsy (CP).

Early targeted therapy interventions for high-risk infants aim to improve neurological outcomes by taking advantage of critical windows for neuroplasticity. Intensive interventions, such as constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT), are designed to ameliorate early motor predecessors of CP in at-risk infants. This intervention must be provided at a minimally effective dosage of 40 hours, and 60-120 hours for optimal outcomes, and are typically provided in a condensed time period, over 4 to 6 weeks with intensive task-practice for 3-6 hours a day. Delivering CIMT within the context a typical family day is a challenge. Interventional strategies that reduce the time requirement while offering the same or better outcomes would benefit families and facilitate treatment delivery.

Few studies have used neuromodulation combined with intensive motor therapies, such as CIMT, to enhance neuroplasticity and improve functional outcomes in children. Transcranial direct current stimulation has been used safely in older children with CP during bimanual learning therapy. Our group is the first to use non-invasive transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) paired with a motor task of bottle-feeding in infants with feeding failure. taVNS paired with motor feeding activity was safe and over 50% infants determined to need a gastrostomy tube (G-tube) attained full oral feeds (mean time to full oral feeds 15 days with once daily, and 7.8 days with twice daily treatment). This study will use EMG sensing of muscle activity to trigger the taVNS system. Use of EMG sensors is hypothesized to improve pairing of stimulation with motor activity while also decreasing the treatment burden for the therapist.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 4
• Phase: Early Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • South Carolina
    • Charleston, South Carolina, United States, 29425
      • Medical University of South Carolina

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Five 6-18-month-old infants
• Hemiplegia/motor asymmetry qualifying for Constraint Induced Movement Therapy
• Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) level I-IV
• Ability to maintain a sitting position for 5 minutes with moderate assistance

Exclusion Criteria:

• GMFCS level V
• Severe motor impairment/ quadriplegic involvement
• Uncorrected blindness or deafness
• Cardiomyopathy

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Device Feasibility
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Sequential Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: EMG triggering feasibility; We will trial use of a new taVNS unit that uses automated EMG sensors to trigger stimulation and an optional Bluetooth manual trigger. This experimental device will be used to during CIMT rehabilitation treatment to pair stimulation with active movement.	Combination product: Custom EMG triggered Soterix taVNS stimulation with CIMT therapy in lab; Participants will receive taVNS stimulation paired with 40 hours of constraint-induced movement therapy. The new device will automatically trigger stimulation using EMG muscle sensors worn during the therapy session. Phase 1 will occur in the lab, and ongoing notifications will be made to the EMG system to test feasibility of automatic stimulation
Experimental: taVNS and EMG feasibility at home; For the 2nd phase of the study we will trial using the EMG triggered system to deliver taVNS and CIMT in the home setting.	Combination product: Custom EMG triggered Soterix taVNS stimulation with CIMT therapy in home; Participants will receive taVNS stimulation paired with 40 hours of constraint-induced movement therapy. The new device will automatically trigger stimulation using EMG muscle sensors worn during the therapy session. Phase 2 will occur in the home and will assess the quality of the CIMT therapy provided with the automated EMG system.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Device Feasibility	Feasibility is measured as percent of total treatment time Electromyography (EMG) can successfully trigger stimulation during a Constraint induced movement therapy (CIMT) rehabilitation session.	end of 4 week treatment intervention (40 hours of CIMT)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Fidelity of Implementation Measure (FIRM)	Fidelity Rating of Quality of Constraint Induced Movement Therapy Delivery while using the experimental EMG triggered Soterix taVNS stimulator. Fidelity of Implementation Measure (FIRM) which describes how consistently therapists exhibit behaviors consistent with CIMT principles and operant conditioning techniques and are rated on a scale of 1-4. A 4 being consistently demonstrating with less than 1 exception, and 1 being rarely or not at all. A score of 3 indicates acceptable to high fidelity.	end of 4 week treatment intervention (40 hours of CIMT)
Quality of Upper Extremity Skills Test (QUEST)	Quality of Upper Extremity Skills Test The QUEST is a criterion-referenced measure designed to evaluate the quality of upper extremity function in young children with spasticity. We calculated scores from 2 domains:1) Dissociated movement and2) Grasp Item scores are summed; formulas are used to calculate percentages for each domain. Domain percentages are summed and divided by number of domains (2 for our study) to obtain total score. Minimum score = 0; Maximum score = 100 The total QUEST score was calculated by summing scores for each sub-domain tested divided by the total number of sub-domains tested. The total scores on the QUEST range from 0 to 100. Higher scores represent better quality of movement.	Change in functional motor outcome completed pre and post 40 hours of treatment

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Medical University of South Carolina

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 17, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 30, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): March 30, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 23, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 4, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): May 12, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): July 4, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 2, 2025
• Last Verified: July 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Brain Damage, Chronic; Cerebral Palsy
• Other Study ID Numbers: Pro00123579

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