Functional MRI and DTI Analysis of Post VNS Therapy Rehab Changes

Stroke Hemorrhagic Clinical Trial

Official title: Functional MRI and DTI Analysis of Post VNS Therapy Rehab Changes

Status Completed

Clinical Trial Summary

The purpose of performing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans on patients undergoing stroke rehabilitation therapy in conjunction with vagal nerve stimulators (VNS) is to determine if the patients clinical improvement correlates to changes that can be identified on MRI of the brain such as degree of blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal, changes in resting state connectivity, and corticospinal tract fiber density.

Subjects will be randomized at implant surgery to either the device treatment (rehabilitation and VNS) or control (rehabilitation and Control VNS) groups. All participants of this study are also participants of the STU 062017-071 study and chose to participate in this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) sub-study. Rehabilitation is standard of care.

Both experimental groups and control groups will receive pre-rehabilitation and post-rehabilitation fMRI and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) scans to quantify their white matter track density. We will analyze this data using the University of Texas Southwestern (UTSW) Advanced Neuroscience Imaging Research (ANSIR) pipeline which can automatically quantify white matter track density on both sides of the brain given the appropriate scans. In this study the VNS device specifically will not be studied. Rather we will be looking at the changes that occur in the brain as a result of using the VNS device during physical rehabilitation.

Once the post-rehabilitation scans are completed the patients in the control group will be given the opportunity to crossover into the experimental group and receive physical rehabilitation with the VNS implant turned on. They will have a third MRI session after their round of rehabilitation with the implant turned on in order to quantify their white matter tract density.

Clinical Trial Description

This study will consist of 2-3 fMRI sessions, depending on group assignment, and span 2 days for each session. It will be done at a single site only, at UTSW. The fMRI tasks will consists of subjects grasping and releasing a handgrip.

The VNS implant will be used in this study to determine if having the implant active during physical rehabilitation produces white matter tract changes in the brain visible on fMRI. All subjects in the STU 062017-071 study will receive a VNS implant. And all subjects in this study are also subjects of the STU 062017-071 study. Therefore participants of this study will enroll with the implant already in place.

Methods: After passing routine MRI screening, patients who are enrolled in the VNS-REHAB study and consent to participate in the fMRI study will be scanned on a Phillips 3 Tesla Research Magnet (Ingenia, Philips Healthcare, Best, the Netherlands). Patients will be scanned before therapy and the week after therapy. A subset of patients will be scanned 3 times, before therapy, after therapy without activation of the vagal nerve stimulator, and after therapy with activation of the vagal nerve stimulator.

Scan Time:

Scan time is limited to 15 minutes per session to match manufacture FDA guidelines. Patients will receive two, 15 minute MRI scans over 2 days. ;

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Stroke Hemorrhagic

• NCT number: NCT03945851
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: April 4, 2019
• Completion date: April 28, 2021