Clinical Research Directory

Effect of Virtual Reality on Patient's Comfort During Cardiac Electronic Device Implantation.

The purpose of this study is to assess the effect on patient's comfort of a virtual reality experience during a procedure of cardiac electronic device implantation under local anesthesia.

Smart Bra for Diagnosing Breast Cancer

This project aims to assess the ability of a portable and connected medical device to detect breast abnormalities, for breast cancer screening. It will accelerate technological progress in the face of breast cancer.

Multicentre Randomised Study Comparing a Taurolidine Lock and a Standard Saline Lock in Paediatric Oncology

Interest of a Taurolidine lock at each catheter closure in the primary prevention of catheter-related endoluminal infection in paediatric oncology. Multicentric, controlled, randomized and double-blind label study.

ASSIST Ethiopia: Feasibility Clinical Investigation of the Odonassist™ Medical Device

The Innovation The OdonAssist™ is a medical device for assisted vaginal delivery (AVD), that is defined by the need of additional procedure to facilitate childbirth in order to reduce foetal-maternal risks. Increasing access to AVD has been identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the priorities for improving maternal health globally. The OdonAssist™ is a frugal innovation born in the southern hemisphere in an unconventional environment. It was invented by an Argentinian mechanic, Jorge Odon. Its potential to improve maternal and neonatal health is now recognised. It has been designed to be safe, simple to use and better accepted than current devices (forceps, suction cup). Two studies conducted in England and one in France have confirmed these characteristics and funding has recently been obtained for a randomised clinical investigation in five French hospitals. Project Rationale The present project aims to conduct a feasibility study at Saint Luke's Hospital in Wolisso, a poorly resourced hospital in rural Ethiopia, in order to test the device in a low-income country and assess its acceptability. In addition, with the aim of investigating the efficiency and budgetary impact of this new device, and considering the wider perspective of a future scale-up, data will be collected on its cost-effectiveness, in order to compare it with the reference interventions at local level (vacuum and caesarean section). Main research questions: 1. Is it feasible to introduce the OdonAssist™ (new intervention) at the hospital Saint Luke's in Ethiopia, in terms of preliminary data on safety, efficacy, acceptability by mothers and healthcare providers? 2. What are the estimated healthcare-related costs of the OdonAssist™ (new intervention) in comparison to traditional alternatives, that are vacuum-assisted delivery or cesarean section during the second stage of labor? Study population Participants will be assisted with the OdonAssist™ medical device in case they have provided informed consent and they present medical indication for AVD as per protocol. The study will also collect data on a nested cohort of women and babies delivered either by vacuum extractor or by second-stage cesarean section. The information gained from this study will be used to plan for future impact evaluation and cost utility studies relevant for the implementation and for the scaling up of the OdonAssist™ in low resource settings. The study site will be Saint Luke's Hospital, Wolisso, Oromia region, Ethiopia.

Opioid Dispenser for Microdiscectomy/Laminectomy

The opioid crisis continues to plague the United States. While great strides have been made nationwide to decrease overprescribing, improvements are still needed to appropriately educate patients on the safe and responsible use, storage and disposal of opioids. Pain after surgery is often treated with opioid medications. Opioid medications can have side effects. Some side effects are relatively minor (constipation, nausea, vomiting), while others are more severe (sedation, abnormal breathing, etc.) and can lead to serious illness or death. Opioid pain medications when used the wrong way may also be addictive. Due to theses side effects, sometimes patients feel uncomfortable about taking these medications, and doctors prescribe them very cautiously. However, when used properly and safely, opioid pain medications are excellent pain relievers. Addinex, a technology company, has developed a device to help patients take opioids more safely. In this study the investigators aim to enroll a total of 30 patients who undergo spine surgery. Half will be randomly assigned to receive a standard pill bottle with opioids at discharge and will download a mobile app so that they can record their daily pain scores and the number of opioids they take for two weeks after surgery. The other half will receive the new opioid dispenser filled with opioids and a mobile app that generates a passcode that opens that device only at designated times. For this group of patients, every time the patient wants to take an opioid, they need to go to the app, enter their pain score before the app generates a passcode. The investigators will be tracking all study patients' opioid use and pain scores for the two weeks after surgery, will count how many pills they have left over 14 days after their surgery during a live telehealth session, and ask patients how they liked using the device. Results from this study will help understand if the Addinex device could potentially be useful to patients in the future after surgeries as opposed to typical pill bottles.

Clinical Validation of BoneMRI in the Spine

BoneMRI is a quantitative 3D MRI technique that has been developed recently by MRIGuidance BV©, which is based on a multiple gradient-echo sequence and a machine learning processing pipeline. The BoneMRI technology is capable of generating CT-like, quantitative radiodensity bone MRI images to visualize cortical and trabecular bone, allowing to assess bone structure and morphology, in addition to regular clinical MRI images. The use of BoneMRI has been investigated and clinically validated in multiple musculoskeletal studies involving the cervical spine, hip and sacro-iliac joint. In order to clinically use BoneMRI in the entire spine, the BoneMRI technology needs to be validated in that area as well, focussing on geometrical and voxelwise accuracy of the radiodensity contrast to assure accurate visualization of the osseous structures. As robustness against expected data variability between hospitals is crucial for successful machine learning algorithms, multiple MR field strengths and scanner types from different manufacturers will be included in this study. If successful, BoneMRI will facilitate a better, easier and cheaper workflow by enabling diagnosis, treatment planning and surgical navigation using a single radiological examination, without the potential hazards of ionizing radiation.

The COVID Dome Trial

The aim of this study is to test a bubble-like dome (made of clear plastic) being placed over patients' heads during surgery as a tool to prevent the spread of germs through the air in hospitals. The researchers are interested in the following outcomes: * How the device affects the patients' experience of surgery. * The impact of the device on how long it takes to place a breathing tube, blood pressure, heart rate and oxygen levels of the patient. Researchers will compare the outcomes across patients using the device and patients not using the device. This will be done by randomly (by chance) assigning participants undergoing surgery to group 1 (using the bubble-like dome device) or group 2 (not using the device). Participants will: * Tell the researchers or your anesthesia doctor about any problems that you experience that you think might be related to participating in the study. * Fill out a 10-minute survey regarding your experience with the dome after surgery. * If you did not try the dome before going to sleep, you will be able to watch a video of the dome in use and answer questions based on the video * Be video recorded with your time with the dome.

Ventilation of the Extremely Premature Infants Optimized by Dead Space Washout

The Continuous Tracheal Gas Insufflation (CTGI) is a ventilation option of conventional mechanical ventilation that is used to reduce or even eliminate the dead space caused by respiratory prostheses. This objective is of particular interest in the smallest preterm infants, where the volume of anatomical dead space due to prostheses is little different from the tidal volume. The principle of this option is to continuously blow an additional flow of 0.2 L/minute at the tip of the endotracheal tube to purge expired CO2 trapped in the prostheses, to have a CO2-free volume of gas available for subsequent insufflation. The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if Continuous Tracheal Gas Insufflation (CTGI) works to reduce ventilatory dependence in preterm infants after mechanical ventilation. It will also learn about the safety of CTGI. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Does Continuous Tracheal Gas Insufflation (CTGI) reduce the number of days of non-invasive ventilation in extremely preterm infants who needed mechanical ventilation? * Does Continuous Tracheal Gas Insufflation (CTGI) reduce the age at the weaning of any ventilatory support and/or oxygen supplementation. Researchers will compare the clinical outcome of patients mechanically ventilated with the CTGI-device to the outcome of patients ventilated without the CTGI device, to see if the CTGI ventilation works to reduce ventilation dependence. Participants will: • Be mechanically ventilated using CTGI (if randomly assigned in the CTGI-group), for the entire endotracheal ventilation period during their stay in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Safe-Infusion Study

Around 1.5 billion peripheral intravenous catheters (PIVCs) are sold yearly, with up to 90% of hospitalized patients receiving one, yet failure rates can reach 69%, often due to phlebitis, infiltration, occlusion, or dislodgement. These complications can collectively be named mechanical complications. This study aims to assess a new device's effectiveness in reducing mechanical complications associated with PIVCs through a non-inferiority randomized trial at two sites. A total of 548 patients will be recruited, with primary outcomes focused on complication rates and secondary outcomes examining adverse events, healthcare feedback, and economic impacts.