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Electronic Approach to the Human Massage Therapist
Sponsor: Mayo Clinic
Summary
The purpose of this study is to gather information about patient experience receiving a massage through a robotic EMMA (Expert Manipulative Massage Automation) compared to receiving a massage from a massage therapist.
Official title: Comparing an Electronic Approach to the Human Massage Therapist.
Key Details
Gender
All
Age Range
18 Years - Any
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Enrollment
40
Start Date
2026-02-28
Completion Date
2026-10-01
Last Updated
2026-01-30
Healthy Volunteers
No
Conditions
Interventions
EMMA massage therapy
Expert Manipulative Massage Automation (EMMA) is equipped with sensors to measure muscle stiffness and uses 3D vision technology to measure muscle stiffness and identify pressure points while delivering a massage to patients. Following that, the electronic massager will determine the best course of action for our patients based on the information stored by our Artificial Intelligence and EMMA's robotic arm will perform the massage. EMMA executes massages through soft treatment modules that are warmed to a temperature of between 38℃ and 40℃ to mimic human touch.
Clinical massage treatment
The direct person clinical massage treatment will be delivered by a clinical licensed massage therapist. The type of massage will follow the EMMA massage in that it will be a deep tissue massage (to mimic the Tuina massage) and generally will be for about 30 minutes to once again mimic the duration of massage therapy of the EMMA.
Locations (1)
Mayo Clinic in Rochester
Rochester, Minnesota, United States