Sonographic Measurement of Intraneural Blood Flow in the Median Nerve

Summary

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the most common nerve compression disease and the most expensive upper-extremity work-related musculoskeletal disorder, affecting approximately 10 million people in the US. To understand the clear etiology and mechanism of carpal tunnel syndrome, the measurement of median nerve intraneural blood flow needs to be further scrutinized as the common fluctuating physiological conditions and functional hand activities might contribute to the fluctuation of the measurement and serve as measurement error. This study aims to examine how intraneural blood flow within the median nerve is affected by physiological factors (i.e., body temperature and blood pressure) and functional hand activities (i.e., typing, using a mouse, and cooking).

Conditions

• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
• Median Nerve Injury

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Cooling

Participants' dominant hand and wrist will be immersed in cool water (20°C) for five minutes. The cool water will be kept to around 20°C (19 - 21°C) by frequently checking the temperature and corrected when it rises to 20.5°C

BEHAVIORAL

Heating

A heat pack wrapped in a towel will be applied to participants' dominant hand for five minutes.

BEHAVIORAL

Exercising

Participants will be asked to participate in moderate-intensity physical activities to induce an increase in blood pressure. The physical activity will be two sets of 30 jumping jacks, followed by 15 squats. Participants are allowed to rest for 20 seconds between the two sets.

BEHAVIORAL

Typing

All participants will be asked to perform a typing task with a standard wired keyboard. All subjects will be asked to type for five minutes.

BEHAVIORAL

Using a mouse

Participants will be asked to draw as many lower-case alphabet characters from "a" to "z" as possible using a standardized scroll mouse for five minutes in the Windows Microsoft Paint software.

BEHAVIORAL

Cooking

Participants will be asked to participate in a cooking trial following a prespecified cooking recipe of Rice Krispy Treat. he participant will be asked to follow the procedures as follows: (1) cut and put wax paper in the pan; (2) cut butter into 4 pieces; (3) place butter in a pot over a portable stove and stir until the butter is completely melted; (4) add four oz of marshmallows and stir until melted; (5) add cereal and the rest of marshmallows and stir until all ingredients are combined (6) transfer the ingredients to the pan and use a silicone spatula to pat the ingredients evenly into pan.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Southern California

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Shawn C Roll, PhD · University of Southern California

Study Design

Allocation

NA

Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

NONE

Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

65 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2021-12-13

Primary Completion

2022-05-30

Completion

2022-05-30

Countries

• United States

Study Locations