An interventional study of Vibrotactile Feedback System in Stroke and Hemiparesis, sponsored by Geisinger Clinic. Not yet recruiting. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 85 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-21.
Sponsored by Geisinger Clinic · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
Stroke survivors often walk more slowly and may have difficulty producing the movements needed to walk efficiently. This study will evaluate whether vibrotactile feedback, delivered through small wearable devices that provide vibrations during walking, can help individuals with chronic stroke change specific walking movements related to walking speed, propulsion, and balance.
Participants will complete a single study visit at Bucknell University. During the visit, participants will perform several walking trials with and without vibrotactile feedback and will complete common clinical mobility and balance assessments. Motion capture technology and wearable sensors will be used to measure movement during walking.
The goal of this study is to better understand how vibrotactile feedback can be used to improve walking performance after stroke and to support the future development of rehabilitation approaches for stroke survivors.
Post-stroke gait rehabilitation frequently targets walking speed because improved walking speed is associated with greater functional mobility and community participation. Forward propulsion is strongly related to walking speed, but the biomechanical concepts commonly targeted in rehabilitation can be difficult for patients to understand and apply during walking. Vibrotactile biofeedback may provide a simple and intuitive method of promoting desirable gait modifications by delivering real-time feedback based on clinically meaningful movement parameters.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the immediate effects of vibrotactile feedback on walking biomechanics in individuals with chronic stroke. Specifically, the study will investigate whether vibrotactile feedback can increase walking speed and forward propulsion, improve symmetry of gait-related measures, and reduce lateral trunk sway during walking. The study will also explore the use of wearable inertial measurement units (IMUs) to objectively quantify movement during common clinical mobility and balance assessments.
Participants will complete a single study visit at the Bucknell University Biomechanics Laboratory. During the visit, motion capture technology, wearable inertial measurement units, timing gates, and force plates will be used to measure walking biomechanics. Participants will complete walking trials under baseline and vibrotactile feedback conditions targeting trailing limb angle, ankle plantarflexion, and trunk sway. Participants will also complete the Timed Up and Go (TUG) assessment and the Berg Balance Scale (BBS).
The information collected in this study will be used to improve understanding of how vibrotactile feedback can influence gait biomechanics after stroke and may support future development of rehabilitation approaches intended to improve walking function and mobility in stroke survivors.
8,255 studies on the registry are indexed under Stroke; 2,056 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 32 is below the median of 49 across 6,024 interventional studies indexed under Stroke.
Browse Stroke studies →Geisinger Clinic is the lead sponsor of 127 studies on the registry; 17 are open to participants now.
Of its 9 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 7 (78%) have results posted.
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Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: long-term lung disease that makes it hard to breathe out, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
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.
COPD
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: long-term lung disease that makes it hard to breathe out, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Participants with chronic stroke will complete a single study visit that includes baseline walking assessment, vibrotactile feedback walking conditions targeting trailing limb angle, ankle plantarflexion, and trunk sway, and clinical mobility and balance assessments. All participants will complete all study conditions and serve as their own controls.
Device: Vibrotactile Feedback System
Participants will receive vibrotactile feedback using a wearable SageMotion system consisting of inertial measurement units mounted on elastic straps. The system calculates joint angles during walking and provides vibration-based feedback when predefined movement goals are achieved. Feedback conditions will target trailing limb angle, ankle plantarflexion, and trunk sway during walking.
Walking Speed
Walking speed measured during walking trials using timing gates and compared between baseline and vibrotactile feedback conditions.
Time frame: Single study visit (Day 1)
Forward Propulsion
Maximum anterior ground reaction force measured during walking trials using force plate data and compared between baseline and vibrotactile feedback conditions.
Time frame: Single study visit (Day 1)
Trailing Limb Angle
Trailing limb angle measured during walking trials using motion capture and wearable sensor data and compared between baseline and vibrotactile feedback conditions.
Time frame: Single study visit (Day 1)
Ankle Plantarflexion Angle
Peak ankle plantarflexion angle measured during walking trials using motion capture and wearable sensor data and compared between baseline and vibrotactile feedback conditions.
Time frame: Single study visit (Day 1)
Gait Symmetry
Symmetry ratio calculated between limbs for trailing limb angle, ankle plantarflexion angle, and forward propulsion during walking trials.
Time frame: Single study visit (Day 1)
Lateral Trunk Sway
Magnitude of lateral trunk sway measured during walking trials using motion capture and wearable sensor data and compared between baseline and vibrotactile feedback conditions.
Time frame: Single study visit (Day 1)
Timed Up and Go Assessment
Performance on the Timed Up and Go assessment collected during the study visit and used to explore relationships between clinical mobility measures and wearable sensor measurements.
Time frame: Single study visit (Day 1)
Berg Balance Scale Assessment
Performance on the Berg Balance Scale assessment collected during the study visit and used to explore relationships between clinical balance measures and wearable sensor measurements
Time frame: Single study visit (Day 1)
No study locations are listed for this record.
Plan to share: Yes — Deidentified individual participant data that underlie the results reported in publications may be shared with qualified researchers for future research purposes.
Supporting information: Study protocol, Statistical analysis plan
Time frame: Beginning after publication of the primary study results and continuing for up to six years following study completion.
Access criteria: Access may be provided to qualified researchers for IRB-approved secondary analyses. Only deidentified data will be shared.
This study is not yet recruiting, as verified in Sep 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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