Robot hugs for preemies: brain study tests Stress-Reducing device
NCT ID NCT07262385
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tests a device called Calmer that mimics a parent's touch, heartbeat, and breathing for very preterm infants in the NICU. Researchers will use brain scans to see if using Calmer for at least 3 hours daily over 2-3 weeks improves brain development compared to standard care alone. The study involves 20 infants born 3-4 months early.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 20 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Expected to start
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Dec 2025
An estimate. Start dates often move.
- Expected to finish
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Sep 2027
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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26 to 30 weeks
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
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Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Very preterm infants admitted to the NICU at the BC Women's Hospital Exclusion Criteria: Infants who have * Congenital anomalies; * Born small for GA (per medical admission history); * History of birthing parent substance use in pregnancy; * Ongoing infection at the time of enrollment; * Pre-existing cardiovascular instability defined by shock/hypotension/need for cardiovascular drugs; * Receiving paralytic drugs; * Major neurological injury (e.g. hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, hemorrhage/stroke; VP shunt); * Beyond the 30th completed week GA (30 weeks + 6 days) at enrollment.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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BC Women's Hospital & Health Centre
Vancouver, British Columbia, V6H 3N1, Canada
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
- Can early feeding shape a premature Baby's brain and body?
- Talking therapy for NICU parents may boost premature babies' futures
- Storytime in the NICU: can reading to preemies boost bonding?
- Can early therapy boost development in preterm babies?
- Skin-to-Skin cuddles may shield preemie brains from bleeding
- VR goggles teach parents how to care for preemies