Immersive Virtual Environments and Wearable Haptic Devices in Rehabilitation of Children With Neuromotor Impairments

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Cerebral Palsy; Dyspraxia

• Registration Number: NCT03353623
• Lead Sponsor: Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna di Pisa

Brief Summary

The investigators proposed a controlled, single-blind, unicentric, crossover, randomized, clinical trial to test the effects of immersive virtual environments and wearable haptic devices in the rehabilitation of children with neuromotor impairments. In addition, the proposed approach was compared with respect to conventional therapy.

A sample of 8 participants was randomly divided into 2 groups and they attended one of the two therapeutic approach for 4 weeks before crossing over and inverting the therapy. Between the two interventions, there was a wash out period of 4 weeks.

The investigators assessed motor abilities of the children with validated clinical scales and motion analysis before/after each phase of the study (T0: baseline, T1: after 4 weeks, T2: after 8 weeks, T3: after 16 weeks, and T4: up to 24 weeks).

Detailed Description

A Randomized Controlled Crossover Trial was designed to examine the usability and effectiveness of serious games and wearable haptic interfaces in rehabilitation of children with neuromotor impairments. The ethics board of Tuscany Region and the Italian Ministry of Health approved this study. All parents freely accepted the participation of their children in the study and provided written informed consent.

The investigators recruited eight patients, both male and female, 3 children with Cerebral Palsy (CP) and 5 children with Developmental Dyspraxia (DD) (mean age = 10,30±2,88 years), who were currently receiving conventional therapy at Unit of Developmental Neurorehabilitation, Maternal and Child Department, Pisa University Hospital, and eight Typically Developing children (TD, mean age = 9,60±2,61 years). All the patients were right-handed and they did not have previous experiences with Virtual Reality (VR) and/or haptic devices, while TD children have previously experienced with commercial video games.

Following recruitment, screening and consent and baseline assessments, participants are randomized to an order of VR-assisted rehabilitation (ISG-Group, Immediate Serious Games, or DSG-Group, Delayed Serious Games). Participants were setup in their first condition and were assessed at the end of the 4 week intervention. Participants were then set up in their second period for 4 weeks, again with assessment occurring at the end of the intervention. Among the two interventions, a wash out period of 4 weeks was inserted and children followed only cognitive therapy with no physical sessions.

The study protocol consisted of a total of 16 sessions with both VR-assisted and conventional rehabilitation (2 sessions per week for 4 weeks for 2 periods) and involved a familiarization and a training phase. The investigators adopted different established clinical scales for children with CP and DD in order to assess patients' abilities during the assessments. The investigators also selected metrics obtained from end-point (hand) kinematic data, including movement speed and accuracy, in order to have quantitative measurements of patients' motor abilities.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2017-02-13
• Primary Completion: 2017-06-06
• Study Completion: 2017-10-09
• Status Verified: 2017-11
• Study First Submitted: 2017-11-15
• Study First Submitted QC: 2017-11-20
• Last Update Submitted: 2017-11-20
• Study First Posted: 2017-11-27
• Last Update Posted: 2017-11-27

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 8

Inclusion Criteria

• a history of neuromotor disorders (CP or DD)
• a maximum age of 18 years
• a minimum ability to actively grasp an object
• the ability to understand simple instructions
• low to severe impairments of the upper limbs

Exclusion Criteria

• epileptic patients
• severe deficit in sensory perception of upper limb
• severe visual impairments
• severe cognitive diseases

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: CROSSOVER

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change From Baseline in Kinematic Metrics on Linear Path Tracking (LPT) and Reach-to-Grasp (RtG) Tasks for Dominant Hand at 4, 8, 16 and 24 weeks	Baseline (T0), 4 weeks (T1), 8 weeks (T2), 16 weeks (T3), 24 weeks (T4)	The evaluation task consisted of two reach-to-grasp tasks requiring forearm pronation or supination and three linear path tracking (forward and sideways). For the RtG task, the child was asked to flip a card protruding from an horizontal support. For the LPT, the child was seated in front of a desk with the hand positioned, at rest, close to the body on the sagittal plane. Then a target was put on the desk (always at the same distance from the starting position) and the child was asked to reach the target by moving the hand along a straight path. All tasks were performed with the preferred arm at self selected speed. The investigators then extracted kinematic metrics (movement speed, accuracy and smoothness) from end-point (hand) kinematic data.
Change From Baseline in Time Scores on Nine Hole Peg Test (9-HPT) for both Dominant and Non-Dominant Hands at 4, 8, 16 and 24 weeks	Baseline (T0), 4 weeks (T1), 8 weeks (T2), 16 weeks (T3), 24 weeks (T4)	Nine Hole Peg Test (9-HPT) is a brief, standardized, quantitative test of upper extremity function. Both the dominant and non-dominant hands are tested twice. The child is seated at a table with a small, shallow container holding nine pegs and a wood or plastic block containing nine empty holes. On a start command when a stopwatch is started, the child picks up the nine pegs one at a time as quickly as possible, puts them in the nine holes, and, once they are in the holes, removes them again as quickly as possible one at a time, replacing them into the shallow container. The total time to complete the task is recorded.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Number of Participants with Treatment-Related Adverse Events according to the CTCAE v.4.0	Up to 16 weeks	The investigators referred to the following System Organ Class (SOC): Eye disorders, General disorders and administration site conditions, Nervous system disorders, Psychiatric disorders.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Unit of Developmental Neurorehabilitation, Maternal and Child Department, Pisa University Hospital; 🇮🇹 Pisa, PI, Italy