Clinical Research Directory

Implementation Study on Hospital-to-home Advanced Rehabilitation Technologies (ART)

To study the feasibility of the various model of ART rental service for home use, prescribed and supervised by experienced rehabilitation professionals and supported by tech partners, and its efficacy in improving function in neurological patients requiring high-intensity rehabilitation.

Prospective Observational Multimodal Neuromonitoring During High-Risk Adult Surgery

This is a prospective observational cohort study of adult patients undergoing high-risk surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center. The study acquires synchronized multimodal neuromonitoring data - including SedLine quantitative EEG (qEEG) extracted from standard-of-care clinical monitoring and, where deployed, Brain4Care (B4C) noninvasive intracranial dynamics data - and links these data to perioperative hemodynamic, medication, laboratory, procedural, and outcome variables. No alteration of routine clinical care occurs. The primary goal is to characterize associations between monitor-derived features and perioperative clinical variables, and to establish a multimodal dataset supporting future analyses of perioperative brain health in high-risk surgical populations.

Acceptability of Paediatric Wrist Orthoses Through Co-design

The goal of this pilot interventional study (pre-post design) is to learn if a co-designed wrist-hand orthosis can improve acceptability compared to a conventional orthosis in children aged 6 to 14 years with neuromotor disorders following acquired or congenital brain injury. The main questions it aims to answer are: Does a wrist-hand orthosis developed through a co-design process with the pediatric patient show greater acceptability - measured via the Technological Acceptance Measure (TAM-3) - compared to the conventional orthosis already used by the patient? Does the co-designed orthosis guarantee at least equivalent functional performance to the conventional orthosis, as assessed through upper limb kinematic analysis? Researchers will compare the co-designed orthosis to the conventional orthosis to see if the co-design and personalization process improves acceptance, satisfaction, and functional outcomes. Participants will: Complete acceptance and satisfaction questionnaires (TAM-3 and QUEST 2.1) and undergo functional upper limb assessment while wearing their conventional orthosis Participate in two structured co-design workshops (\~1.5 hours each) involving creative and expressive activities to define preferences for their personalized orthosis Receive and wear the co-designed 3D-printed orthosis, then repeat functional assessments and questionnaires, and take part in a semi-structured interview about their co-design experience.

Visual Impairment and Functional Visual Performance Following Acquired Brain Injury: A Cross-Sectional Study

This cross-sectional observational study aims to characterize acquired visual impairment in adults with acquired brain injury and to examine the relationship between objectively identified visual impairment and self-reported functional visual performance. A total of 108 adults with acquired brain injury, including stroke, traumatic brain injury, and brain tumor, will undergo a standardized visual assessment. Objective visual function will be evaluated across five predefined domains: visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, visual field, oculomotor function, and visual attention/scanning. Self-reported functional visual performance will be assessed using the Revised Self-Report Assessment of Functional Visual Performance (R-SRAFVP). The study will determine the proportion of participants with objectively identified visual impairment and examine the association between the R-SRAFVP score and the number of objectively impaired visual domains. The distribution of impairment across the individual visual domains will also be described.

Pilot Study of Individualized Neurovisual Rehabilitation Following Acquired Brain Injury

This prospective single-group pilot study will evaluate the feasibility and preliminary outcomes of an individualized neurovisual rehabilitation program for adults with visual impairment following acquired brain injury. Thirty participants will receive five individual therapist-led rehabilitation sessions together with individually prescribed self-training. The rehabilitation program will be tailored to each participant's identified visual impairment and functional difficulties. Feasibility will be evaluated through intervention uptake, attendance, completion, adherence to prescribed self-training, and completion of post-intervention assessment. Preliminary changes in self-reported visual functioning and selected objective measures of visual function will be assessed from baseline to post-intervention. Because the study has no control group, analyses of clinical outcomes will be exploratory and are not intended to provide definitive evidence of treatment efficacy.

Portable MRI for Pediatric Hypoxic Ischemic Brain Injury

This study will evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of low field portable MRI (pMRI) for detection of hypoxic ischemic brain injuries in pediatric patients compared to clinically obtained neuroimaging to define pediatric diagnostic limitations and to determine the diagnostic capabilities of this neuroimaging modality following optimization of image acquisition. The results of this study will help determine optimal clinical implementation opportunities in pediatric patients.

Comparison of Two Strategies for Endotracheal Tube Cuff Underinflation Prevention During Invasive Mechanical Ventilation

During invasive mechanical ventilation, maintaining endotracheal tube cuff pressure (Pcuff) around 25 cmH2O is recommended for sealing the upper airways. The continuous control of Pcuff with a simple mechanical device, the Tracoe Smart CuffmanagerTM, has never been assessed. The investigators hypothesize that the Tracoe Smart CuffmanagerTM would allow a reduction of the incidence of underinflation episodes, as compared with the intermittent strategy of Pcuff control.

Mobile Health Self-Management and Support System for Chronic and Complex Health Conditions

This study will assess the benefits of using mobile health system designed for individuals with chronic and complex health conditions (such as those with Spinal Cord Injury,Cerebral Palsy, Spina Bifida, and Traumatic Brain Injury) to improve their wellness and self-management skills compared to those who receive standard of care only.

Screening Emotions in Adolescents at the Hospital for mTBI

The goal of this observational study is to develop and validate a clinical tool to predict which adolescents aged 11 to less than 18 years of age with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) are at an increased risk for developing significant new or worsening mental health conditions. The main aims the study wish to answer are: * Does the adolescent have new or worsening depression or anxiety defined as a change from their previous medical history using self-reported questionnaires at either one or three months post-injury? * Does the adolescent have unmet mental health care needs, defined as not receiving any mental or behavior health care in patients with new or worsening anxiety or depression as defined by the self reported questionnaires? Participants will be enrolled after being diagnosed in the emergency department (ED) with an mTBI. During the ED visit, the child's parent/caregiver and the adolescent will complete several questionnaires related to mental health which include tools to measure anxiety and depression. Participants will be asked to complete these questionnaires again at 1 month and 3 months post enrollment.

Metacognition in Neurological Injury

The purpose of this study is to investigate the trajectory of metacognitive functioning throughout phases of recovery from neurological insult, and to determine its relationship to rehabilitation compliance and functional outcome. It is hypothesized that metacognitive accuracy improves over time, and is a significant predictor of engagement in rehabilitation activities.

Ketamine Infusion as a Method of Cerebral Protection in Children

The study is devoted to the use of ketamine infusion in a subanesthetic dose in the postoperative period in children after surgical correction of congenital heart defects in children.

Epidural Spinal Cord Stimulation for Respiratory Recovery in Brain Injury

Patients with severe brain injury may develop impaired respiratory drive, diaphragm dysfunction, prolonged mechanical ventilation, and difficulty recovering spontaneous breathing. Epidural spinal cord stimulation may activate preserved spinal respiratory circuits and improve respiratory muscle activity. This prospective, single-center, non-randomized, single-arm exploratory study will enroll 10 patients with stroke or traumatic brain injury who have impaired consciousness and require invasive mechanical ventilation. Participants will undergo epidural spinal cord stimulation in addition to standard clinical care. Diaphragmatic electrical activity, respiratory function, diaphragm ultrasound findings, diaphragm electromyography, duration of mechanical ventilation, pulmonary infection, length of stay, mortality, safety events, and 6-month neurological outcome will be assessed. The study aims to evaluate the safety and preliminary efficacy of epidural spinal cord stimulation for improving respiratory function after brain injury.

Long-term Effects of Blueberry Supplementation on Brain Health in Older Adults

This study will test whether consuming blueberry powder 20g/d for 24 weeks can improve memory and other cognitive function and alter serum biomarkers of brain injury among older adults.

Randomized Controlled Trial of Long-term Mild Hypothermia for Severe Traumatic Brain Injury

This study is a prospective multi-centre randomized trial to compare the effect of long-term mild hypothermia versus routine normothermic intensive management in patients with severe traumatic brain injury. The primary hypothesis is that the induction of mild hypothermia (maintained at 34-35℃) for 5 days will improve the outcome of patients at six months post injury compared with normothermia.

Biomarker Role in Assessing Imaging Needs for Mild Cranial Trauma

This study aims to determine whether a blood test can help doctors decide when to use a head CT scan for patients with a mild head injury. Researchers are investigating whether the results from this blood test can aid in making better decisions about patient care and potentially reduce the need for imaging. In this study, researchers will collect blood samples to assess whether this specific blood test can help doctors decide when head imaging is necessary following a head injury. The goal is to determine whether the use of this test can reduce the number of head imaging procedures performed in the emergency department (ED).

Cognitive Assessment by the Mean of Event Related Potentials

The main objective of this study is to describe differential cognitive processing of various stimuli by a population of control subjects and a population of patients with selective cognitive deficits or altered states of consciousness by using dedicated ERP paradigms and high-density EEG picked up system.

Hypnosis in Working Memory Rehabilitation

Establishment of effective, efficient, and evidence-based interventions in rehabilitation of working memory (WM) deficits after acquired brain injury (ABI) is sorely needed. Despite robust evidence for the usefulness of clinical hypnosis in a wide range of clinical conditions, and improved understanding of mechanisms underlying it ́s effects, the potential of clinical hypnosis in cognitive rehabilitation is virtually unexplored. The current study seeks to replicate resent intriguing findings where large effects of hypnotic suggestion were seen on WM capacity following ABI, and further, explore underlying mechanisms of change.

The NIPA Study Naloxegol Administration to Prevent Opioids Induced Gastrointestinal Motility Disturbance in Brain Injured PAtients

Impaired gastrointestinal transit (IGT) especially constipation, is common among patients under mechanical ventilation, occurring in up to 80 % of the patients during the first week, and has been associated with worse outcome in intensive care unit (ICU). Although IGT in critically ill patients is multifactorial and some components are due to complex disease, there is increasing evidence that exogenous opioids contribute to bowel dysmotility. Sedatives and especially opioids are largely used in the brain injured population to control intracranial pression, reduce metabolic rate, manage or prevent seizures, and improve mechanical ventilator synchrony. Therefore, brain injured patients are particularly at risk to develop IGT. The occurrence of IGT is associated with adverse outcomes in intensive care unit. Both gastric reflux and impaired peristaltic contractions are associated with ventilator-acquired pneumonia. The actual challenge is to prevent motility disorders before it occurs. A preventive strategy could in turn reduce the occurrence of complications related to impaired gastrointestinal transit such as ventilator-acquired pneumonia, bacteremia etc. It could also reduce the complications of feed intolerance and thus reduce morbidity and mortality in ICU. Naloxegol is a polyethylene glycol derivative of naloxol, which is a derivative of naloxone and a peripherally acting µ-opioid receptor antagonist. Contrary to naloxone, naloxegol has a very low penetration into the central nervous system, therefore it could be a relevant option for ileus prevention without the risk of impaired sedation. The aim of our study is to assess the efficacy of the administration of naloxegol on the onset of early constipation and early ventilator-acquired pneumonia in brain injured patients receiving opioids for analgosedation.

Dexmedetomidine on Brain Injury Patients

The aim of the study is to check whether dexmedetomidine has neuroprotective properties in brain injury patients. The enrolled 60 patients will be divided into two groups; Group 1(n=30): are the patients who will receive dexmedetomidine. Group 2 (n=30): are the patients who represent the control group.

Pilot Study Evaluating the Success (= Safe Decannulation) of a Standardized Tracheotomy Weaning Procedure in Brain-injury's Patients

Tracheotomy weaning and decannulation are one of the important problems in the neurosurgical care unit. Aside from medical, psychological, sociological, economical and ethics problems, tracheotomy increases the duration of the hospital stay and conditions the secondarily future medical care (better re-education after the injury). However, according to investigators practices, that patients who were decannulated with success can go into a secondary care residence more easily. This research will demonstrate that all patients included can be decannulated without risk of a new recannulation in the 96 hours.

Program Intensive Habilitation (PIH) for Young Children With Early Brain Damage

By longitudinal, prospective research in children with neurodisabilities including severe motor impairments and their parents to explore the beneficial effects of participating in an intensive habilitation program on the child's adaptive functioning and parental empowerment in order to treat and reduce the consequences of early brain damage.

Prophylactic Anti-epileptic Regimen in Traumatic Brain Injury

To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of anti-epileptic drugs in the prevention of early and late post-traumatic seizures among patients with trauma brain injury

Remotely Administered tDCS to Improve Cognitive Function in Veterans With mTBI and PTSD Principal Investigator

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are common combat-related conditions that can result in impairments in cognition, including memory, attention and multi-tasking. There are few effective interventions to improve cognition in Veterans with cognitive impairment due to these conditions. Non-invasive brain stimulation techniques, like transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), can be used to stimulate activity in areas of the brain to optimize recovery and rehabilitation. In this study, the investigators are conducting a randomized controlled trial of tDCS to improve cognitive function in Veterans with cognitive impairment due to co-morbid TBI and PTSD. TDCS is remotely administered and paired with cognitive training.

The Gut-Brain Axis During Neurorehabilitation; Prebiotic Treatment to Alter the Gut Microbiome and Neurologic Symptoms

The aim of this study is to characterize the microbiome of patients undergoing post-acute residential neurorehabilitation compared to community controls and to determine if a dietary fiber, Inulin, can create a shift in the microbiome leading to changes in fatigue and cognition.