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Non Invasive Vagus Nerve Stimulation in Cerebral Palsy (BOOSTTVNS)

NCT06372028 · Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 44

Last updated 2024-04-17

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

The present study aims to assess, through a randomized controlled trial (RCT), the efficacy of transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation (tVNS) in enhancing the functional changes due to an intensive motor training in children and adolescents with Cerebral Palsy (CP). Particularly, in two different groups active or sham tVNS will be paired with the Hand-Arm Bimanual Intensive Therapy Including Lower Extremities (HABIT-ILE) and we will assess the effects on the upper limbs motor ability and daily functioning in 6 to 17 years old patients with CP having mild-to moderate upper limb deficits. The investigators hypothesized that, thanks to the intensive bimanual training, both the active and the sham group will improve in motor functioning. However, taking into account that tVNS has the potential to facilitate in a bottom-up way neural plasticity, particularly in chronic disease conditions, the investigators hypothesized that active tVNS might improve in a greater and more lasting extent than sham tVNS the motor functioning. Moreover, as suggested by previous studies investigating the effect of non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) in paediatric population, the investigators expected that the treatment will be safe and well tolerated. Such a result would encourage the use of NIBS to boost the rehabilitative training of motor abilities in children and adolescents with CP.

Conditions

  • Cerebral Palsy

Interventions

DEVICE

transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS)

tVNS allows the non-invasive stimulation of the Vagus Nerve by delivering electrical pulses to the sensory afferent fibers of the auricular, thick-myelinated, branch of the vagus nerve in the outer ear. TVNS seems to engage the same neural pathways of invasive VNS methods and may provide a novel, bottom-up NIBS method to enhance gamma-aminobutyric acid and Noradrenaline levels, which play a pivotal role in brain plasticity. The stimulation will be performed by using a Conformite Europeenne (CE) marked tVNS device tVNS®E (tVNS, technologies Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GMBH), Erlangen, Germany). It consists in a programmable stimulation unit connected to two titan ear electrodes that are mounted on a gel frame, allowing to generate and transfer electric impulses from the stimulation unit to the surface of the skin, where the electrodes are applied.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • IRCCS National Neurological Institute "C. Mondino" Foundation

    collaborator OTHER

  • Azienda Socio Sanitaria Territoriale degli Spedali Civili di Brescia

    collaborator OTHER

  • IRCCS Eugenio Medea

    lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
TRIPLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
6 Years
Max Age
17 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2024-04-15
Primary Completion
2026-03-14
Completion
2026-05-14

Countries

  • Italy

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT06372028 on ClinicalTrials.gov