tSCS and AR on Pain and Balance in Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy

Official title

Combined Effects of Transcutaneous Spinal Cord Stimulation (tSCS) and Augmented Reality (AR) Training on Pain and Balance in Diabetic Neuropathy Patients.

Overview

tSCS and AR-based training have individually shown benefits in neuromotor rehabilitation; no study to date has evaluated their combined effects on pain, balance, lower-limb strength, retention, and vibration sense in diabetic neuropathy. The rationale for combining them lies in their complementary mechanisms: tSCS at 30 Hz activates large-diameter Aβ afferents, inhibiting nociceptive input, enhancing spinal excitability, and facilitating motor activation.

Detailed description

In Pakistan, 26.3% of the population is affected, and DN impacts about 40% of cases, with early signs reducing function. (9-11) Standard care includes glycemic control, medications like duloxetine and pregabalin, topical agents, and modalities such as TENS.

Alongside pain, lower-limb strength declines due to motor axonal degeneration and prolonged disuse, (1) limiting mobility and increasing the risk of falls. Balance impairments are frequent in DN and result from compromised proprioceptive input and impaired postural control mechanisms; (4) these deficits are exacerbated by pain-related inactivity and muscular weakness.

Augmented reality (AR) based rehabilitation delivers multisensory feedback, such as visual, vestibular, and proprioceptive inputs, during interactive, task-specific training. It enhances sensorimotor coordination, dynamic postural stability, and proprioceptive reweighting. AR training can improve balance responses, promote lower-limb engagement, and reinforce accurate proprioceptive input.

The tSCS enabled stepping in individuals with complete motor loss, confirming its impact on lower-limb functional recovery. Additionally, this stimulation frequency targets mechano-sensory pathways associated with vibration sense and is believed to support retention of sensorimotor gains through repeated activation of neuroplastic mechanisms at the spinal and cortical levels.

Interventions

• Other transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation
  Transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation will be administered non-invasively using surface electrodes placed over the D12-L1 spinal segment. This segmental level has been shown to effectively engage lower-limb motor and sensory networks across multiple spinal segments. Stimulation will be delivered using the Soterix 1×1 Transcutaneous Electrical Stimulation (TES) unit. Stimulation will be applied at a frequency range of 30 Hz. Pulse duration of 1 ms, and intensity will be set at 2 mA. A ramp-up an
• Other Augmented Reality
  AR-based rehabilitation will consist of interactive balance and coordination tasks conducted in a virtual environment, with real-time visual feedback provided to guide movement accuracy and postural control. The core training block will include five structured modules: interactive kicking exercises to promote ankle and knee coordination; color-target foot-reaching tasks to enhance proprioception and reaction time; virtual obstacle navigation to improve gait and stepping control; static and dynam

Primary outcome measures

• Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) [Time frame: Up to week 5 (baseline/week 1/week 5)]
• Time Up and Go (TUG) [Time frame: Up to week 5 (Baseline/week 1/week 5)]

Secondary outcome measures (2)

• 30 Second Chair Stand Test [Time frame: Up to week 5 (Baseline/week 1/week 5)]
• Neurothesiometer [Time frame: Up to week 5 (Baseline/Week 1/week 5)]

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion criteria

• More than or equals to 4 score on Douleur Neuropathique 4 Questionnaire
• More than or equals to 6 Hz at Neurothesiometer
• More than or equals to 4 score on the Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS)

Exclusion criteria

• Cognitively compromised (MOCA ≤ 26/30)
• Metallic implants at skull
• Shunting
• Skin allergy

Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.

Healthy volunteers: No

Study design

Allocation

Randomized

Model

Parallel assignment

Masking

Open label

Primary purpose

Treatment

Study locations

Pakistan · 1 center

• Pakistan Railway Hospital — Rawalpindi

Publications

• Petersen EA, Stauss TG, Scowcroft JA, Brooks ES, White JL, Sills SM, Amirdelfan K, Guirguis MN, Xu J, Yu C, Nairizi A, Patterson DG, Tsoulfas KC, Creamer MJ, Galan V, Bundschu RH, Paul CA, Mehta ND, Choi H, Sayed D, Lad SP, DiBenedetto DJ, Sethi KA, Goree JH, Bennett MT, Harrison NJ, Israel AF, Chang P, Wu PW, Gekht G, Argoff CE, Nasr CE, Taylor RS, Subbaroyan J, Gliner BE, Caraway DL, Mekhail NA. PMID 33818600
• Lamichhane P, Sukralia S, Alam B, Shaikh S, Farrukh S, Ali S, Ojha R. Augmented reality-based training versus standard training in improvement of balance, mobility and fall risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Ann Med Surg (Lond). 2023 Jun 20;85(8):4026-4032. doi: 10.1097/MS9.0000000000000986. eCollection 2023 Aug. PMID 37554880
• Henson JV, Varhabhatla NC, Bebic Z, Kaye AD, Yong RJ, Urman RD, Merkow JS. Spinal Cord Stimulation for Painful Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy: A Systematic Review. Pain Ther. 2021 Dec;10(2):895-908. doi: 10.1007/s40122-021-00282-9. Epub 2021 Jul 10. PMID 34244979
• Strand NH, Burkey AR. Neuromodulation in the Treatment of Painful Diabetic Neuropathy: A Review of Evidence for Spinal Cord Stimulation. J Diabetes Sci Technol. 2022 Mar;16(2):332-340. doi: 10.1177/19322968211060075. Epub 2021 Nov 29. PMID 34842478
• Gylfadottir SS, Christensen DH, Nicolaisen SK, Andersen H, Callaghan BC, Itani M, Khan KS, Kristensen AG, Nielsen JS, Sindrup SH, Andersen NT, Jensen TS, Thomsen RW, Finnerup NB. Diabetic polyneuropathy and pain, prevalence, and patient characteristics: a cross-sectional questionnaire study of 5,514 patients with recently diagnosed type 2 diabetes. Pain. 2020 Mar;161(3):574-583. doi: 10.1097/j.pai PMID 31693539

Identifiers

NCT: NCT07619794 · REC02262 Mahnoor Imtiaz

Primary sources (government registries)

• ClinicalTrials.gov (US NIH)

View this study on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗