The Origin of Phantom Limb Sensation and Phantom Limb Pain in Amputees

• Conditions: Exposure to Infrared Radiation
• Interventions: Other: Far infrared ray to the sole

• Registration Number: NCT01936558
• Lead Sponsor: National Taiwan University Hospital

Brief Summary

With the far infrared ray applied to the 'phantom limbs' in amputees and the corresponding normal legs in healthy subjects, the sensation of (phantom) limb will be assessed for each subject using the techniques of fMRI and meridian response.

Detailed Description

This project will investigate two main hypotheses based on our previous studies on phantom limb sensation and phantom limb pain. The first hypothesis states that phantom limb sensation and phantom limb pain both correlate with the 'phantom limb', while the second one maintains that the phantom limb can interact with the patient's body by means of the meridian system. With the far infrared ray applied to the 'phantom limbs' in amputees and the corresponding normal legs in healthy subjects, the sensation of (phantom) limb will be assessed for each subject using the techniques of fMRI and meridian response. By analyzing the data collected from both groups, the investigators expect both hypotheses will be supported by the results of experiments in this project.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2013-01
• Study First Submitted: 2013-05-01
• Study First Submitted QC: 2013-09-03
• Study First Posted: 2013-09-06
• Status Verified: 2014-01
• Last Update Submitted: 2014-01-14
• Last Update Posted: 2014-01-16
• Primary Completion: 2014-12
• Study Completion: 2014-12

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: UNKNOWN
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 20

Inclusion Criteria

• Amputees: at least one arm or one leg amputated
• Healthy subjects: healthy person under 30 years old

Exclusion Criteria

• with mental diseases

Study & Design

• Study Type: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Design: Not specified

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Amputees	Far infrared ray to the sole	Amputee with one arm or one leg amputated/ Far infrared ray to the phantom limb site
Healthy subjects	Far infrared ray to the sole	Healthy subjects under 30 years old/ Far infrared ray to the sole

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Resting functional MR images	one year	The resting fMRI images will be obtained before and after the far infrared exposed to the phantom limb site. The default mode of the brain will be analyzed. If the default mode was changed, it was one of the evidence that the neural signal was transmitted from the phantom limb site into the brain and caused the change.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

NTUH department of orthopedics; NTU department of electrical engneering; 🇨🇳 Taipei, Taiwan