Nerve stimulation boosts hand therapy in infants with brain injury?
NCT ID NCT07063446
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tests whether combining a mild nerve stimulation (taVNS) with intensive hand therapy (CIMT) can improve arm function in infants aged 8-24 months who have one-sided weakness due to brain injury. Ten infants will receive 40 hours of therapy over two weeks, and researchers will also use brain stimulation to see which babies might benefit most. The goal is to help babies use their weaker hand better.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) paired with constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT)
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could point toward a new way to improve hand and arm function in infants with one-sided weakness after brain injury.
- What could go wrong
- This is a very small early study with only 10 infants, so results may not apply to all children. The treatment requires many hours of therapy, and it's unknown if the benefits will last.
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 10 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Nov 2025
- Expected to finish
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Dec 2026
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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8 to 24 months
- 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.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Infants 8-24mo with hemiplegia or asymmetric weakness of one arm, with or without truncal and transitional motor delays * Gross Motor function Classification system (GMFCS) I - IV * Parents are able to make consecutive appointments for assessments and intervention over 2wks and complete the 3mo follow-up. * Parents are willing to fill out developmental questionnaires and provide the study team feedback on tolerability and outcomes. Exclusion Criteria: * previous CIMT within 3 months * GMFCS V or severe motor impairment/quadriplegia * uncorrected blindness/deafness, cardiomyopathy * poorly controlled seizure disorder
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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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Medical University of South Carolina
RECRUITINGCharleston, South Carolina, 29425, United States
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