Hunova® Randomized Controlled Trial for Trunk Control Improvement in Spinal Cord Injured Patients

Rehabilitation
Standing/walking/mobility
Online since 1 September 2023, updated 20 days ago

About this trial

In patients with Spinal Cord Injury (SCI), trunk and therefore postural control (both in statics and dynamics) are impaired, often with strong consequences on daily life activities. Therefore, improve...

Included participants

Gender
All
Age
≥ 18 years
Injury level
C4 - S5
  • Severity (AIS)?
  • AIS-A
    AIS-B
    AIS-C
    AIS-D
    Time since injury
    ≥ 6 months
    Healthy volunteers
    No
    C4-S5

    What’s involved

    Type

    Rehabilitation

    Details

    In SCI patients trunk and therefore postural control (both in statics and dynamics) are impaired, often with strong consequences on daily life activities. Postural control is defined as the ability to maintain balance despite internal and external perturbations, with the aim of bringing the person's barycenter within his standing area. Therefore, improvement and reinforcement of trunk control are primary rehab goals. For the evaluation of trunk control in SCI people, still today no tests and scales are definable as gold standards. Only a few are considered as more reliable, some of them suitable for acute/subacute SCI, some others for chronic SCI. In some published studies, inertial sensors have been used for a more precise evaluation of the Center of Pressure (COP), of the sway area, in relation to the trunk control, but further validation studies are needed. The use of more objective tools could provide additional information on the behavior of SCI people on postural control, thus not only on muscle strength. Of particular interest are the less or more complex compensation strategies implemented and the muscle activation patterns involved in trunk control, assessable through e.g. surface electromyography. Nowadays, for rehab purposes of trunk control, balance and proprioception, in both sitting and standing position, conventional rehab can be supplemented with robotic treatments, e.g. through the Hunova® device (by Movendo Technology). Several studies have demonstrated that conventional rehab associated with robotic training is able to influence functional and motor outcomes in stroke patients, while little evidence is available on SCI patients, also on the number of robotic sessions needed. The same Hunova® device also allows parameters evaluation by means of its output data. The present randomized controlled study primarily aims to demonstrate the effects on trunk control of an integrated rehab treatment (standard plus Hunova®), compared to the standard alone and to gain evidence on the better rehab scheme in terms of number of Hunova® sessions. The correlation between the variation of trunk control, measured by the output data of the Hunova® device itself - ideally more objective - and that assessed through a validated clinical scale, will also be estimated. Randomization will be stratified, based on SCI lesion completeness. A 1:1 allocation ratio will be used for each stratum.

    Potential benefits

    Main benefits

    Standing/walking/mobility

    Additional benefits

    Good to know: Potential benefits are defined as outcomes that are being measured during and/or after the trial.

    Wings for Life supports SCITrialsFinder

    Wings for Life has proudly initiated, led and funded the new version of the SCI Trials Finder website. Wings for Life aims to find a cure for spinal cord injuries. The not-for-profit foundation funds world-class scientific research and clinical trials around the globe.

    Learn more

    • Trial recruitment status
    • Recruiting
    • Trial start date
    • 5 Jun 2023
    • Organisation
    • Montecatone Rehabilitation Institute S.p.A.
    • Trial recruitment status
    • Recruiting
    • Trial start date
    • 5 Jun 2023
    • Organisation
    • Montecatone Rehabilitation Institute S.p.A.

    Wings for Life supports SCITrialsFinder

    Wings for Life has proudly initiated, led and funded the new version of the SCI Trials Finder website. Wings for Life aims to find a cure for spinal cord injuries. The not-for-profit foundation funds world-class scientific research and clinical trials around the globe.

    Learn more