Healthy Children and Virtual Reality Mediation of Simulated Pain

Enrolling by invitation · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Acute Pain, Experimental Pain in Healthy Human Participants, Children, Adolescents

In brief

The objective of this study is to develop central nervous system (CNS) biomarkers of pain experienced during medical procedures and pain relief induced by Virtual Reality Pain Alleviation Therapy (VR-PAT). The study team plans to use innovative functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to identify and quantify the targeted CNS biomarkers. The ultimate goal of this project is to optimize the CNS biomarkers for predicting and/or monitoring response to virtual reality (VR)-based pain reduction approaches for pain management in clinical trials. 20 healthy children will be recruited for a 1-hour research visit where they will wear a blood pressure cuff to simulate pain and an fNIRS neuroimaging device while playing an immersive/engaging VR game, a passive VR video, and an iPad game.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT06854991

Run by

Nationwide Children's Hospital

People needed

20

Starts

2025-08-04

Expected to finish

2026-12-31

Last updated by the study team

2026-03-17

Who can join

Age: 6 and older, up to 17. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Age 6-17 years, inclusive
• Subjects and legal guardians can communicate (read and write) using English

You may not qualify if…

• Currently experiencing any pain (acute or chronic)
• Took any pain medication within the past 12 hours
• Vision, hearing, or cognitive/motor impairments preventing valid administration of study measures
• History of motion sickness, seizure disorder, dizziness, or migraine headaches precipitated by visual auras
• Minors in foster care, incarcerated, or currently pregnant

Where it is running

• Nationwide Children's Hospital — Columbus, Ohio, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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