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Not yet recruitingNCT06543433Updated Aug 9, 2024

Skincubator, a Novel Incubator for Skin to Skin Contact Feasibility Study

A Phase 2/3 interventional study of Skincubator 2 in Preterm and Preterm Birth, sponsored by Itamar Nitzan. Not yet recruiting at 1 site in Australia. Open to participants aged 0 Days to 14 Days. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2024-08-09.

Sponsored by Itamar Nitzan · Phase 2/3, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Phase 2/3
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
50
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
0 Days to 14 Days
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to test the feasibility of using the Skincubator, a wearable incubator for skin to skin contact of preterm babies and their parents. It will also learn about the safety of skincubator. The main questions it aims to answer are:

  • Can the Skincubator keep a stable temperature for the smallest babies and the first days after birth?
  • How many hours will the parents (and other family members) will succeed to perform skin to skin every day?

Participants will:

Be offered the opportunity to perform Skincubator care for as long as they want to each day during the week after enrolment.

Read the detailed description

Study design: This is a non-randomized feasibility trial with no control group in which the investigators will offer parents the option to perform Skincubator care - being cared for in SSC inside the Skincubator, which is placed on the mother and/or another caregiver. Skincubator care will be provided from birth if the caring team and the parents feel it is appropriate. The option for Skincubator care will be provided for as long as the parents, surrogates, and staff feel comfortable with a goal of possible achievement of the WHO target of 8 hours per day. Each infant will participate in the study for one week from enrollment (If parents desire, they will be able to continue using the Skincubator beyond 1 week as long as NICU staff feel that it is helpful for the baby).

Implementation phase: Prior to beginning the study, each center will provide care in the Skincubator for five noninvasively ventilated preterm babies. After gaining experience in treating a preterm baby in the Skincubator and performing manikin simulations of Skincubator care for invasively ventilated babies, the NICU team in each center will be able to decide whether to include intubated babies in the trial.

Population: up to 25 preterm neonates in each site, born at GA of 24.0-32.6 with birth weight of \<1.5 kg.

First 3 babies will be of GA of 26-32.6 and on noninvasive respiratory support. Those babies will be considered a learning phase for the team, and may be analyzed separately. After completing the learning phase the study will proceed with 4 groups:

  1. Up to 7 more babies of GA of 26-32.6 and on noninvasive respiratory support.
  2. 5 Intubated babies with GA of 26-32.6. The investigators will start enrolling babies from this group only after the team treated at least 5 babies from group 1 (including the learning phase) and feels ready to move on to intubated babies.
  3. 5 babies GA 24.0-25.6 on noninvasive respiratory support. The investigators will start enrolling babies from this group only after the team treated at least 5 babies from group 1 (including the learning phase) and feels ready to move on to this age group.
  4. 5 intubated babies with GA of 24.0-25.6. The investigators will start enrolling babies from this group only after the team treated at least 3 babies from group 2 and 3 babies from group 3, and only if the team feels ready to move on to this group also.

First five babies will be treated in the Skincubator only from NICU admission. After gaining experience with the first 5 babies the team may decide to start Skincubator care in birth suite (ideally on the mother, potentially on the father if the mother prefers or is feeling unwell) or in cesarean section theater (on the father).

02

Conditions studied

  • Preterm
  • Preterm Birth

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03

In context

Premature Birth

2,610 studies on the registry are indexed under Premature Birth; 507 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 50 is below the median of 84 across 1,722 interventional studies indexed under Premature Birth.

Browse Premature Birth studies →

Lead sponsor

This is the only study on the registry with Itamar Nitzan as lead sponsor.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
0 Days to 14 Days
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Preterm neonates with birth weight of \<1.5 kg
  • Requiring respiratory support
  • Cared for in an incubator with at least 60% humidity.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Critical congenital heart disease
  • Suspected genetic syndrome
  • Hemodynamic instability
  • Having a chest tube,
  • Significant congenital anomalies,
  • Need for surgery
  • If the attending neonatologist decides that the Skincubator is not safe for a specific baby.
  • Neonates whose mothers have a significant mental disorder that is not adequately controlled
  • Neonates of parents unable to perform extended SSC for any reason will be excluded as well.
05

Study design

Phase
Phase 2 / Phase 3
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
50 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Skincubator

    This is the only arm. All babies in trial will receive the intervention.

    Device: Skincubator 2

Interventions

  • DeviceSkincubator 2

    The Skincubator is a small incubator designed to attach to the caregiver's torso without any barrier between the parent's chest and the baby. It creates an environment with the advantages of a standard neonatal incubator, while enabling Skin to Skin contact for extended periods from birth. It has multiple access points, to allow for common nursing procedures. It is anchored safely to the parent's body and secures ventilator and IV tubing. It also includes side ports for the parents to insert their hands to touch their baby. The investigators will offer the parents in the intervention group the opportunity to perform Skincubator care for as long as they want to each day during the week after enrolment. The investigators will provide the parents with the aids to accomplish this goal: the Skincubator system with a convenient environment, the option for Skincubator surrogates and, where possible, the option for one of the parents to sleep with the baby safely secured in the Skincubator.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. hours of SSC per day

    primary neonatal outcome will be hours of SSC per day

    Time frame: In the first week from study commencement (study commencement will be defined as birth or receiving consent, whichever occurs later).

  2. Parental Stress Scale (PSS) NICU

    Parental Stress Scale (PSS) NICU performed by the mother. Minimum and maximum values for PSS NICU are 0 and 72, higher scoring indicates higher parental stress.

    Time frame: 4 to 7 days after birth.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Time outside of temperature range 36.5-37.5

    Time outside of temperature range 36.5-37.5 measured axillary

    Time frame: In the first week from study commencement (study commencement will be defined as birth or receiving consent, whichever occurs later).

  2. time in environmental humidity of less than 60%

    time in environmental humidity of less than 60% measured by hygrometer and incubator hygrometer

    Time frame: In the first week from study commencement (study commencement will be defined as birth or receiving consent, whichever occurs later).

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Monash Children's hospital
    Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia
    • Calum Roberts, M.D · Contact · calum.roberts@monash.edu · +61 3 8572 3657
    • Calum Roberts, M.D · Principal investigator
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Undecided — The investigators will need to discuss with local IRBs

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reachedSimilar studies: half by the dot; the band is the middle halfHalf of similar studies reached it by the dot; the band is the middle half, from a quarter to three quarters

Start is estimated for Aug 2024; primary completion for Sep 2026, 24 months later.

Of 17 phase 2/3 interventional studies under Premature Birth, half reached primary completion within 20 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 7 and three quarters within 39. This study's planned 24 months is above that.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Aug 3, 2024
First posted
Aug 9, 2024
StartEst.
Aug 31, 2024
Primary completionEst.
Sep 1, 2026
CompletionEst.
Sep 1, 2027
Last update
Aug 9, 2024
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Aug 9, 2024, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT06543433
Lead sponsor
Itamar Nitzan
Collaborators
Monash University, Monash Health, Riverside University Health System Medical Center
Responsible party
Itamar Nitzan (Dr, Shaare Zedek Medical Center) — Sponsor-investigator
First posted
Aug 9, 2024
Start date
Aug 31, 2024 (estimated)
Primary completion
Sep 1, 2026 (estimated)
Completion
Sep 1, 2027 (estimated)
Last update
Aug 9, 2024

Study contacts

Itamar Nitzan, M.D
Contact
itamarnitzan@gmail.com
+972507414998
Alon Metrikin Gold
Contact
alon@skincubator-neocare.com
Itamar Nitzan, M.D
study director · Shaare Zedek Medical Center

Oversight

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

Not currently enrolling

This study is not yet recruiting, as verified in Aug 2024. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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