An interventional study of Whole-body Vibration Training,Whole-Body Vibration With Regional Plantar Stimulation,Baduanjin in Flat Feet, Lower-Limb Muscle Activation and Neuromuscular Response, sponsored by Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University. Recruiting at 1 site in China. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 25 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-10.
Sponsored by Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Other
This study will examine how different short-term exercise and vibration conditions affect lower-limb muscle activity in young adults with flat feet and young adults with normal feet.
Participants will complete several conditions, including whole-body vibration, whole-body vibration combined with plantar stimulation under different areas of the foot, and a Baduanjin heel-raise exercise. Surface electromyography sensors will be placed on the skin over selected lower-limb muscles to record muscle activity before and during each condition. Each participant will complete all study conditions in a balanced order.
This study does not aim to treat flat feet or evaluate long-term clinical benefits. The purpose is to collect preliminary information on immediate muscle activation and foot discomfort, which may help design future studies on foot-related exercise, plantar stimulation, and rehabilitation training.
This is a prospective, exploratory, self-controlled crossover study designed to investigate the immediate effects of different exercise and vibration-based conditions on lower-limb muscle activation.
Flat feet may be associated not only with structural changes of the foot arch, but also with altered neuromuscular control of the lower limb. Whole-body vibration provides a standardized mechanical stimulus, while Baduanjin heel-raise exercise represents an active movement-based training condition. Because the plantar surface is an important sensory input area, this study will also examine whether adding regional plantar stimulation to whole-body vibration produces different muscle activation patterns compared with whole-body vibration alone.
Participants will be classified as having flat feet or normal feet based on foot type assessment. Each participant will complete all study conditions in a balanced order, including whole-body vibration alone, whole-body vibration combined with stimulation of different plantar regions, and Baduanjin heel-raise exercise. Surface electromyography will be used to record lower-limb muscle activity before and during each condition.
This study is not designed to evaluate treatment efficacy or long-term clinical outcomes. Its purpose is to collect preliminary mechanistic data on immediate neuromuscular responses, which may inform future studies on plantar stimulation, vibration training, and individualized rehabilitation strategies.
173 studies on the registry are indexed under Flatfoot; 44 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 30 is below the median of 40 across 122 interventional studies indexed under Flatfoot.
Browse Flatfoot studies →Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University is the lead sponsor of 490 studies on the registry; 214 are open to participants now.
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Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Participants will complete three types of study conditions. In the whole-body vibration (WBV) condition, they will stand barefoot at the center of the vibration platform with feet about 20 cm apart, knees flexed at 20°-25°, arms relaxed, head and neck neutral, eyes forward, and body weight evenly distributed. WBV will be delivered at 20 Hz and 2 mm for 60 seconds. For WBV plus regional plantar stimulation, the same posture and WBV parameters will be used. A plantar stimulation module will be placed on the platform, and participants will position the assigned plantar region on the module. Four regions will be stimulated separately: toe region, metatarsal head region, medial plantar/tibial-side region, and lateral plantar/fibular-side region. Each condition will last 60 seconds. For the Baduanjin condition, participants will perform the "Bei Hou Qi Dian Bai Bing Xiao" heel-raise movement under professional guidance, with 6 repetitions completed within 60 seconds.
Other: Whole-body Vibration Training,Whole-Body Vibration With Regional Plantar Stimulation,Baduanjin
Participants will complete three types of study conditions. In the whole-body vibration (WBV) condition, they will stand barefoot at the center of the vibration platform with feet about 20 cm apart, knees flexed at 20°-25°, arms relaxed, head and neck neutral, eyes forward, and body weight evenly distributed. WBV will be delivered at 20 Hz and 2 mm for 60 seconds. For WBV plus regional plantar stimulation, the same posture and WBV parameters will be used. A plantar stimulation module will be placed on the platform, and participants will position the assigned plantar region on the module. Four regions will be stimulated separately: toe region, metatarsal head region, medial plantar/tibial-side region, and lateral plantar/fibular-side region. Each condition will last 60 seconds. For the Baduanjin condition, participants will perform the "Bei Hou Qi Dian Bai Bing Xiao" heel-raise movement under professional guidance, with 6 repetitions completed within 60 seconds.
Other: Whole-body Vibration Training,Whole-Body Vibration With Regional Plantar Stimulation,Baduanjin
Participants will complete three types of intervention conditions. In the whole-body vibration condition, participants will stand barefoot on a vibration platform with feet about 20 cm apart and knees flexed at 20°-25°. Vibration will be delivered at 20 Hz and 2 mm for 60 seconds. In the whole-body vibration with regional plantar stimulation condition, the same vibration parameters and posture will be used, while a plantar stimulation module is placed on the platform. Four plantar regions will be stimulated separately: the toe region, metatarsal head region, medial plantar region, and lateral plantar region. In the Baduanjin condition, participants will perform a heel-raise movement derived from Baduanjin under professional guidance, completing six repetitions within 60 seconds.
Root Mean Square Value
Electrodes were placed per SENIAM standards (2000 Hz sampling, 20-450 Hz band-pass and 50 Hz band-stop filtering). Data were collected during a 30 s resting baseline and the 30-60 s stable phase of intervention. After offline full-wave rectification, RMS was calculated using a 200 ms sliding window (100 ms step). Mean RMS within each epoch was adopted as the representative value.
Time frame: Day 1: from the resting baseline immediately before each intervention condition through completion of that intervention condition.
Integrated Electromyography
discharge during the resting baseline phase (stable signals for 60 consecutive seconds) before each intervention mode and the entire intervention period (60 seconds) during intervention, namely the area under the curve of electromyographic signals after full-wave rectification, which reflects the overall activation level.
Time frame: Day 1: from the resting baseline immediately before each intervention condition through completion of that intervention condition.
Plan to share: No — Individual-participant data will not be shared publicly due to participant privacy protection requirements, and the informed consent does not include provisions for open data sharing.
Start is estimated for Sep 2026; primary completion for May 2027, 8 months later.
Of 89 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Flatfoot, half reached primary completion within 7 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 2 and three quarters within 15. This study's planned 8 months is above that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 89 studies reached it within 7 months; a quarter within 2 and three quarters within 15.
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