Multimodal Haptic Feedback for Plantar Sensory Substitution

August 5, 2026 updated by: Arun Jayaraman, PT, PhD, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab
The study will explore the use of a haptic device for sensory substitution in individuals with a movement disorder that has caused loss of plantar sensation. The haptic device consists of two components. The first element is a flexible insole with embedded pressure-sensing elements that transmit the spatial patterns of applied foot pressure over time. The second element is a haptic receiver with embedded actuators that vibrate or heat up in proportion to the transmitted pressure patterns, thus substituting the patient's lost plantar sensation.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

OBJECTIVES:

  1. Identify a systematic, methodical approach to determine whether different users of our haptic device can perceive and use vibrational and thermal feedback in order to correct their posture in real-time.
  2. Evaluate whether a haptic device can be used to guide users to maintain a prescribed pattern of pressure on their feet during standing and walking.
  3. Investigate whether a haptic device can improve outcomes on motor evaluation tasks.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

100

Phase

  • 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 Locations

  • United States
    • Illinois
      • Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60611
        • Shirley Ryan AbilityLab

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

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Able to ambulate 10 meters with or without assistance
  • Able and willing to give written consent and comply with study procedures

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Unable to give written consent or comply with study procedures
  • Unable to perceive unsafe levels of heat in relevant areas
  • Has a motor complete spinal cord injury
  • Have transfemoral (above knee) amputation
  • Any condition that would prevent the safe completion of study activities, as determined by the Principal Investigator

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

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Exploratory Arm
Individuals will complete standardized balance and walking tasks with and without sensory substitution from the haptic device system.
Device: Haptic Device
Provides sensory substitution by mapping pressure from the insole sensor onto a corresponding vibrating and heating patch to be worn where more sensation is present.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Pressure data from the insoles
Time Frame: During the intervention
The primary outcome is to use the pressure-sensitive insole to ensure that we can accurately record spatial and temporal pressure data from a wide variety of healthy and non-healthy individuals.
During the intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Shirley Ryan AbilityLab

Collaborators

Northwestern University
Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Arun Jayaraman, PT, PhD, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab

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)

April 20, 2023

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 23, 2026

Study Completion (Actual)

June 23, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 21, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 22, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

January 30, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

August 7, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 5, 2026

Last Verified

August 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • STU00218277

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

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.

Subscribe