tSCS in Children With Spina Bifida

May 22, 2026 updated by: Bailey Petersen

Transcutaneous Spinal Cord Stimulation to Improve Strength and Gait in Children With Spina Bifida

A single-center, open-label, investigational pilot trial to explore potential effects of transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation on leg muscle strength and walking in children with myelomeningocele.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Transcutaneous, or non-invasive, spinal cord stimulation (tSCS) has been effective at improving motor control, especially walking, in adults with a variety of neuromuscular disorders and in children with spinal cord injury. Children with spina bifida often have similar difficulties with walking, muscle strength and bladder control throughout their lives, with few effective therapies to reliably improve walking. In this pilot, the investigators will test if tSCS can improve motor deficits and bladder control in children with spina bifida. The investigators are enrolling up to 20 subjects with myelomeningocele, ages 4-17 years old, that have some difficulty walking but can walk for even short distances with assistance, and that have bladder dysfunction with a stable bladder regimen. Over 4-6 weeks, children will have stimulation using non-invasive tSCS electrodes placed on their low back. Similar protocols have been used for tSCS in children with spinal cord injury and children with cerebral palsy. All previous tSCS studies have shown that this is a safe technology for use with pediatric populations. This pilot study will be used to refine the design of future randomized controlled trials to test tSCS over standard physical therapy care.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

20

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 Contact

  • Name: Sydney Bader, MS
  • Phone Number: 412-648-4196
  • Email: syb17@pitt.edu

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Pennsylvania
      • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, 15213
        • Recruiting
        • University of Pittsburgh
        • Contact:

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

  • Child

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Diagnosed myelomeningocele confirmed by a neurosurgeon or neurologist
  • Some difficulty ambulating, but able to ambulate at least a short distance (10 meters) with devices and/or assistance.
  • Between the ages of 4 and 17 years of age.
  • Documented neurogenic bladder dysfunction
  • On a stable bladder management regimen at least 4-6 weeks prior to the enrollment in the trial

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Severe behavioral or cognitive impairments that preclude participation in the study, in the opinion of the investigator.
  • Has an active surgery planned for impairments from spina bifida (e.g. tethered cord syndrome surgery or orthopedic surgery) or has had surgery in the last 6 months.
  • Is pregnant. Pregnancy will be assessed via verbal report.
  • Open wounds at the thoracic or lumbar spine that precludes transcutaneous stimulation.
  • Implanted or attached electronic device in any location of the body (e.g. pacemakers, baclofen pumps, or implanted insulin pumps)
  • Symptomatic urinary tract infection, urinary tract infection for which they are currently receiving treatment, scheduled urological surgery, or inability to perform or receive catheterization.

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: Transcutaneous SCS
All participants will be receiving transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation
Device: Transcutaneous stimulator
an off the shelf TENS unit or Digitimer DS8R (using same parameters as TENS unit)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Muscle Strength
Time Frame: 4-6 weeks
change in isometric torque of quadriceps during knee extension
4-6 weeks
Gait Kinematics
Time Frame: 4-6 weeks
Change in joint angles in tSCS vs no stim conditions
4-6 weeks
Bladder capacity
Time Frame: 4-6 weeks
Change in cystometric bladder capacity with tSCS vs no stim conditions
4-6 weeks
Gait Kinetics
Time Frame: 4-6 weeks
Changes in ground reaction forces with and without stimulation
4-6 weeks
Bladder Pressure
Time Frame: 4-6 weeks
Change in voiding pressure with tSCS vs no stim conditions
4-6 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Bailey Petersen

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Bailey Petersen, PhD, University of Pittsburgh

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

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 (Estimated)

June 10, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

March 10, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

March 10, 2029

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 22, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 22, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

May 29, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 29, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 22, 2026

Last Verified

May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • STUDY25100066

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

De-identified individual participant data collected during the trial may be shared with other researchers for the purpose of data analysis and collaboration.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

Data will become available at the end of the trial upon publication of the first manuscript.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Data must be directly requested to the PI and will be shared upon completion of necessary data sharing agreement to protect confidential patient information.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • SAP
  • ICF
  • ANALYTIC_CODE
  • CSR

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

Yes

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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