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Brain Computer Interface and Virtual Reality (BCI-VR) for Pain Treatment

Is Mental Motor Imagery Training Using GHOST, a Novel BCI-VR Feedback System (Brain Computer Interface and Virtual Reality) Efficient and Safe for Pain Relief in Phantom Limb Pain After Upper Limb Amputation or Brachial Plexus Lesion

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT03889353
Acronym
GHOST
Enrollment
7
Registered
2019-03-26
Start date
2019-05-09
Completion date
2021-11-09
Last updated
2022-04-21

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

Conditions

Neuropathic Pain

Brief summary

Pilot Interventional study with minimal risks and constraints, prospective, monocentric. Safety and Efficacity evaluation of a Novel Medical Device.

Detailed description

Upper limb's phantom pain, due to amputation or to injury of the brachial plexus are possibly due to maladaptive CNS (central nervous system facility) plasticity and thus could be decreased by retraining the sensorimotor cortex using Mental Motor Imaging guided through a novel BCI-RV feedback system : Ghost. The aim of this study is to evaluate safety and efficacy of this BCI pain treatment developed by our team.

Interventions

DEVICEBCI sessions

up to 3 test sessions (D-30) to eliminate BCI illiteracy, then 10 rehabilitation sessions of 90 minutes (D1-D5 and D8-D12) - Session content : Guided training - Control of an avatar (VR, first person view) of the affected limb by motor mental imagery decoded by a brain computer interface.

Sponsors

Fondation Apicil
CollaboratorOTHER
Nantes University Hospital
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 70 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Neuropathic pain / Phantom limb pain * Mean pain score \>3 centimeter * Permanent pain * If Plexus Brachial injury : \> 6 month * If Amputation : at least at wrist level * Motor and Sensory deficit : complete or incomplete * Informed consent * Public Health Insurance

Exclusion criteria

* MRI contraindication * Subject included in another interventional study * Pregnant women * Majors under guardianship or curatorship or safeguard of justice * History of associated head injury or any other neurological pathology altering the sensorimotor cerebral system or cognitive abilities and higher functions. * Presence of other lesions of the peripheral nervous system that may induce associated neuropathic pain. * Head trauma associated altering somatosensory system or cognitive abilities and higher functions

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Efficacy of BCI intervention on mean daily painmonth 6Determination by curve fitting technique (regression analysis) of the peak effect and calculation of the rate of improvement: success if\> 30%

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Evaluate the effectiveness of the BCI intervention on paroxysmal pains60 days from day -30 to day + 30 , once a week from Month 1 to month 6duration of the paroxysmal pains
Evaluate the effect of the intervention on quality of life: SF36Day 1, 12, 90, 180SF36 Questionnaire quality of life For each question, an algorithm allows the calculation of scores to obtain a number between 0 (zero quality - worse outcome) and 100 (maximum quality).
Evaluate the effect of the intervention on anxiety and depressionDay 1, 12, 90, 180HAD questionnaire : Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale It includes 14 items rated from 0 to 3. Seven questions relate to anxiety (total A) and seven others to the depressive dimension (total D), resulting in two scores (maximum score of each score = 21). To detect anxious and depressive symptoms, the following interpretation can be proposed for each of the scores (A and D): * 7 or less: lack of symptomatology * 8 to 10: doubtful symptomatology - 11 and more: definite symptomatology.
evaluating cortical plasticityDay 1, 12, 30MRI analysis the physiopathological mechanisms governing phantom pain
Evaluate the performance of subjects to control the neurofeedback systemDay 1, 12, 30Motor Imagery Questionnaire

Countries

France

Outcome results

None listed

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