Clinical Research Directory

Observational Study of Electrical Impedance Tomography for Non-Invasive Assessment of Cerebral Autoregulation in Neurocritical Patients

This is a single-center, prospective, observational, self-controlled clinical study conducted at the Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit of Xijing Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Air Force Military Medical University. The study aims to evaluate whether non-invasive Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) can reliably assess cerebral blood flow autoregulation in neurocritically ill participants, by comparing EIT-derived parameters with the current gold-standard invasive index PRx. Cerebral blood flow autoregulation helps maintain stable brain perfusion in critically ill neurological patients. Impaired autoregulation raises the risk of secondary brain injury. The current standard evaluation requires invasive intracranial pressure monitoring, which carries risks of infection, bleeding, and tissue damage. EIT is a non-invasive, radiation-free bedside monitoring technique that uses scalp electrodes to measure real-time changes related to cerebral blood flow, with no additional harm to participants. Adult participants admitted to the neurosurgical intensive care unit who require routine invasive intracranial pressure monitoring will be enrolled, with informed consent provided by legal guardians. All participants receive standard clinical care as prescribed by current medical guidelines; no extra experimental treatments, drugs, or invasive procedures are applied for this study. During the study, invasive monitoring data and non-invasive EIT brain monitoring data will be collected simultaneously. Researchers will analyze the correlation and consistency between EIT-derived parameters and the gold-standard index. This study has received ethical approval from the Medical Ethics Committee of The First Affiliated Hospital, Air Force Military Medical University. All participant information is anonymized to protect privacy, and adverse events will be recorded and reported in accordance with regulatory requirements. The results are expected to support a safe, non-invasive monitoring method for cerebral blood flow autoregulation in neurocritical care.

Probiotic Intervention on Body Weight

This study is a randomized controlled trial with 120 overweight or obese (body-mass index, BMI, ≥ 24 kg/m²) participants and 20 normal-weight participants. Twelve weeks of energy-restricted nutritional and lifestyle intervention with placebo, Lactobacillus paracasei LC-19 (LC-19), or semaglutide (a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist, GLP-1RA) will be randomly conducted in the overweight or obese participants. The primary goal is to clarify the roles of LC-19 and semaglutide in weight reduction and in improving energy, glucose, and lipid metabolism, while also comparing side effects, adverse events, and long-term outcomes such as weight regain between these two interventions. In addition, the study will explore key factors affecting intervention response to provide evidence for optimizing individualized intervention strategies.

Energy Metabolism Profiles Over Weight-loss and Eating Responses

This is an exploratory controlled before-after study, which involves 112 participants, of whom 28 are with normal weight and 84 are overweight or obese. Twelve weeks of caloric-restriction dietary intervention will be conducted in the overweight or obese participants. Before and after the 12-week intervention, metabolic health will be characterized by metabolic homeostasis, determined via comprehensive measurements of dynamic postprandial metabolic responses to a standardized mixed macronutrient tolerance test (75 g glucose, 60 g fat, 20 g protein) in a whole-room indirect calorimeter. The objectives of this study are 1. to characterize dynamic metabolic response elicited by acute nutritional and acute exercise challenges, 2. to elucidate biological mechanisms underlying inter-individual heterogeneity in these responses, 3. to predict prospective weight loss over the intervention using heterogeneous metabolic responses to acute challenges