CClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT04494841Updated Oct 21, 2022Results posted

Usability of a Multimodal External Neuromodulatory Device to Relieve Acute Low Back Pain

An interventional study of Duotherm VibraCool Back Device in Low Back Pain, Low Back Sprain and Low Back Pain, Recurrent, sponsored by MMJ Labs LLC. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 90 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2022-10-21.

Sponsored by MMJ Labs LLC · Not applicable, Interventional, and Device feasibility

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
20
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years to 90 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Ten patients with acute or chronic low back pain will be invited to try a multimodal device for 20 minutes. Pain will be recorded prior to and after use, and feedback on the device will be elicited.

Read the detailed description

To facilitate data collection of a short-term intervention, the investigators chose to enroll patients from a mixed physical therapy/chiropractic practice with demographic and economic diversity in the metro Washington area. The neuromodulatory device will have patient controlled frequencies at 50Hz, 100Hz, and 180Hz attached to a 12 x 22 cm metal plate ergonomically curved to fit the low back. The device will be wearable with a neoprene belt on both sides for patients to adjust pressure. The metal pocket in our device holds a 221g clay pack capable of being frozen to 15F or heated to 110F or patient tolerance, with 30 minute thermal capacity. A convenience sample of 10 patients at the clinic was invited to give feedback on the prototype device after informed consent. Changes suggested were incorporated and after informed consent a second group of ten gave will give feedback with the production-ready device.

02

Conditions studied

  • Low Back Pain
  • Low Back Sprain
  • Low Back Pain, Recurrent

Keywords

  • Medical Device
  • Buzzy
  • Vibration
  • thermomechanical
03

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 90 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • Acute or chronic low back pain as chief complaint
  • Capacity to understand all relevant risks and potential benefits of the study (informed consent);
  • Willingness to communicate information

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Radicular pain likely reflecting a surgical or mechanical problem
  • BMI greater than 30 (device won't fit)
  • Sensitivity to cold or vibration (e.g Raynaud's or Sickle Cell Disease)
  • Diabetic neuropathy rendering a patient unable to determine if the device is too hot
  • New neurologic deficits
  • Skin lesions over the low back area
  • Contraindication to any medication for pain management that would impact analgesic use record
  • Inability to apply DuoTherm
04

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Device feasibility
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
20 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    DuoTherm VibraCool Back Device

    Patients will be offered a pain relief belt device incorporating multiple speeds of vibration and optional heat, cold, and pressure delivered through a sculpted metal plate. They will be able to choose from 8 patterns of vibration with the multiple motors (50, 100, 200Hz), and hot or cold, and will wear the device for 20 minutes.

    Device: Duotherm VibraCool Back Device

Interventions

  • DeviceDuotherm VibraCool Back Device

    Low back plate belt with mechanicothermal and pressure intervention options.

05

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Change in Pain: Visual Analog Scale (VAS)

    Difference in 10 cm VAS printed on paper from 0 (no pain) to 10 (most pain) before and after use of the device, higher value indicates a greater pain reduction, 1.8 cm is considered clinically relevant.

    Time frame: Before use of device (baseline) and after use of device approximately 30 minutes - 20 minutes of use, with 10 minutes for evaluation

  2. Participants' Choice in Thermal Options

    One of four options: hot, cold, none, both

    Time frame: 30 minutes

  3. Would You Recommend

    Binary approval or disapproval of device

    Time frame: After 30 minutes

Secondary outcomes

  1. Subjective Pain Relief

    7-item Likert scale of 1 (much worse) to 7 (much better) pain relief over the time of the study

    Time frame: 30 minutes

06

Results

Posted Oct 21, 2022

Participant flow

Participant flow — Overall Study
MilestoneDuoTherm VibraCool Back Device
Started20
Completed20
Not completed0

Outcome measures

PrimaryChange in Pain: Visual Analog Scale (VAS)

Difference in 10 cm VAS printed on paper from 0 (no pain) to 10 (most pain) before and after use of the device, higher value indicates a greater pain reduction, 1.8 cm is considered clinically relevant.

Time frame:
Before use of device (baseline) and after use of device approximately 30 minutes - 20 minutes of use, with 10 minutes for evaluation
Reported as:
Mean · units on a scale (centimeters)
Change in Pain: Visual Analog Scale (VAS)
units on a scale (centimeters)DuoTherm VibraCool Back Device
Change in Pain: Visual Analog Scale (VAS)2.1 ± 1.4
PrimaryParticipants' Choice in Thermal Options

One of four options: hot, cold, none, both

Time frame:
30 minutes
Reported as:
Count of participants · Participants
Participants' Choice in Thermal Options
ParticipantsDuoTherm VibraCool Back Device
Hot9
Cold11
None0
Both0
PrimaryWould You Recommend

Binary approval or disapproval of device

Time frame:
After 30 minutes
Reported as:
Count of participants · Participants
Would You Recommend
ParticipantsDuoTherm VibraCool Back Device
Approve20
Disapprove0
SecondarySubjective Pain Relief

7-item Likert scale of 1 (much worse) to 7 (much better) pain relief over the time of the study

Time frame:
30 minutes
Reported as:
Mean · score on a scale
Subjective Pain Relief
score on a scaleDuoTherm VibraCool Back Device
Subjective Pain Relief5.3 ± 0.98

Adverse events

Collected over 4 hours. Non-serious events are listed at a 0% frequency threshold.

Adverse event summary by group
GroupDeathsSeriousOther
DuoTherm VibraCool Back Device0/20 (0%)0/20 (0%)0/20 (0%)

Baseline characteristics

Age, Categorical
Age, Categorical(Participants)DuoTherm VibraCool Back Device
<=18 years0
Between 18 and 65 years19
>=65 years1
Age, Continuous
Age, Continuous(years)DuoTherm VibraCool Back Device
Mean41.9 ± 11.0
Sex: Female, Male
Sex: Female, Male(Participants)DuoTherm VibraCool Back Device
Female11
Male9
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)(Participants)DuoTherm VibraCool Back Device
Hispanic or Latino2
Not Hispanic or Latino17
Unknown or Not Reported1
Race (NIH/OMB)
Race (NIH/OMB)(Participants)DuoTherm VibraCool Back Device
American Indian or Alaska Native0
Asian0
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander0
Black or African American18
White1
More than one race1
Unknown or Not Reported0
Region of Enrollment
Region of Enrollment(participants)DuoTherm VibraCool Back Device
United States20
07

Study locations

1 site
  • Sport and Spine Rehab Clinic
    Rockville, Maryland 20852, United States
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Stumbo SP, Yarborough BJ, McCarty D, Weisner C, Green CA. Patient-reported pathways to opioid use disorders and pain-related barriers to treatment engagement. J Subst Abuse Treat. 2017 Feb;73:47-54. doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2016.11.003. Epub 2016 Nov 15. PubMed 28017184 ↗
  • Darnall BD, Colloca L. Optimizing Placebo and Minimizing Nocebo to Reduce Pain, Catastrophizing, and Opioid Use: A Review of the Science and an Evidence-Informed Clinical Toolkit. Int Rev Neurobiol. 2018;139:129-157. doi: 10.1016/bs.irn.2018.07.022. Epub 2018 Aug 6. PubMed 30146045 ↗
  • Davis CS, Lieberman AJ, Hernandez-Delgado H, Suba C. Laws limiting the prescribing or dispensing of opioids for acute pain in the United States: A national systematic legal review. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2019 Jan 1;194:166-172. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2018.09.022. Epub 2018 Nov 3. PubMed 30445274 ↗
  • Ballard A, Khadra C, Adler S, Trottier ED, Le May S. Efficacy of the Buzzy Device for Pain Management During Needle-related Procedures: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Clin J Pain. 2019 Jun;35(6):532-543. doi: 10.1097/AJP.0000000000000690. PubMed 30829735 ↗
  • Lurie RC, Cimino SR, Gregory DE, Brown SHM. The effect of short duration low back vibration on pain developed during prolonged standing. Appl Ergon. 2018 Feb;67:246-251. doi: 10.1016/j.apergo.2017.10.007. Epub 2017 Nov 1. PubMed 29122196 ↗
  • Ueki S, Yamagami Y, Makimoto K. Effectiveness of vibratory stimulation on needle-related procedural pain in children: a systematic review. JBI Database System Rev Implement Rep. 2019 Jul;17(7):1428-1463. doi: 10.11124/JBISRIR-2017-003890. PubMed 31021972 ↗

Study documents

  • Protocol and statistical analysis plan · Jun 11, 2020
  • Informed consent form · Jun 11, 2020

Documents are hosted by the registry — open the source record to download them.

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Yes — Individual participant data that underlie the clinical results reported in any publications, after deidentification, will be available for a period of 36 months after publication to achieve approved aims of any researcher who provides a methodologically sound proposal. Proposals should be directed to info@mmjlabs.com. To gain acccess, data requestors will need to sign a data access agreement.

Supporting information: Study protocol, Csr

09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT04494841
Lead sponsor
MMJ Labs LLC
Collaborators
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Sport and Spine Rehab Clinical Research Foundation
Responsible party
Amy Lynn Baxter (Principal Investigator, MMJ Labs LLC) — Principal investigator
First posted
Jul 31, 2020
Start date
Jan 17, 2020
Primary completion
Jan 20, 2021
Completion
Feb 18, 2021
Results posted
Oct 21, 2022
Last update
Oct 21, 2022

Study contacts

Amy Baxter, MD
principal investigator · MMJ Labs LLC

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
Yes
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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