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

Status

UNKNOWN

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Observational

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT01936558

Enrollment

Registered

2013-09-06

Start date

2013-01-31

Completion date

2014-12-31

Last updated

2014-01-16

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Exposure to Infrared Radiation

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.

Interventions

OTHERFar infrared ray to the sole

exposure 40-minute far infrared ray to the sole for each person/amputee.

Study design

Observational model

CASE_CONTROL

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

20 Years to 85 Years

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

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

Exclusion criteria

* with mental diseases

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
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.

Countries

Taiwan

Contacts

Primary ContactChi-Yu Huang

chiyuhuang@ntu.edu.tw

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026