Brace Monitoring for Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS)

Study Purpose

The overall aim of the study is to utilize a novel device and smartphone application in order to improve measurement of patient compliance with at-home bracing for scoliosis as well as create a more accurate assessment of brace fit via continuous and objective measures of tension. These ground-breaking metrics will provide analyzable data to more accurately reflect and predict actual patient compliance as well as allow for further exploration of how to increase compliance, and thus, efficacy of bracing; it will additionally allow both physicians and patients to have a more reliable measure for brace fit by providing them with continuous data of fit via tension, and provide built-in feedback mechanisms to the patient to ensure proper tightness of the brace. Additionally, the study will investigate whether providing the wearer's own brace-wear compliance information directly to the patient and their caregiver(s) via the mobile app will further improve rates of compliance as compared to those who do not receive the same feedback mechanism.

Recruitment Criteria

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Healthy volunteers are participants who do not have a disease or condition, or related conditions or symptoms

No
Study Type

An interventional clinical study is where participants are assigned to receive one or more interventions (or no intervention) so that researchers can evaluate the effects of the interventions on biomedical or health-related outcomes.


An observational clinical study is where participants identified as belonging to study groups are assessed for biomedical or health outcomes.


Searching Both is inclusive of interventional and observational studies.

Interventional
Eligible Ages 8 Years - 17 Years
Gender Female
More Inclusion & Exclusion Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

  • - Diagnosis of Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS) - Sanders skeletal stage 4 or earlier.
  • - Clinician-recommended Rigo bracing.
  • - Patient receiving brace treatment.

Exclusion Criteria:

- Prior spine surgery

Trial Details

Trial ID:

This trial id was obtained from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, providing information on publicly and privately supported clinical studies of human participants with locations in all 50 States and in 196 countries.

NCT03292601
Phase

Phase 1: Studies that emphasize safety and how the drug is metabolized and excreted in humans.

Phase 2: Studies that gather preliminary data on effectiveness (whether the drug works in people who have a certain disease or condition) and additional safety data.

Phase 3: Studies that gather more information about safety and effectiveness by studying different populations and different dosages and by using the drug in combination with other drugs.

Phase 4: Studies occurring after FDA has approved a drug for marketing, efficacy, or optimal use.

N/A
Lead Sponsor

The sponsor is the organization or person who oversees the clinical study and is responsible for analyzing the study data.

Columbia University
Principal Investigator

The person who is responsible for the scientific and technical direction of the entire clinical study.

Benjamin Roye, MD, MPH
Principal Investigator Affiliation Columbia University
Agency Class

Category of organization(s) involved as sponsor (and collaborator) supporting the trial.

Other
Overall Status Recruiting
Countries United States
Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied.

Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis
Additional Details

The current method to set brace tension is subjective; it is limited to the attending clinician making a mark on the brace straps, to which the patient tightens the straps during daily wear. Once the strap is set in place, the current standard-of-care does not involve any more monitoring. Therefore, ideal strap tension is unknown and the effectiveness of bracing may be unknowingly compromised by many as yet unidentified variables. In recent years, a small number of studies have emerged related to the strap tension of bracing yet no clear guidelines on correct strap tension currently exist. Considering the potential effects on preventing scoliosis progression and brace-associated complications, the need for guidelines regarding optimal brace fit are greatly needed for clinical use. Via this brace monitoring study, continuous monitoring of tension at brace fitting, throughout the day, and related to positional changes will be possible with a very minimal device and smartphone application. The tremendous amounts of data generated by the device and its app will be used to create a database from which our team will gather information about brace wear compliance and use tension information for the development of standards for effective strap tension associated with greater scoliosis curve correction. Lastly, the effect of a patient's engagement with his or her brace

  • - through the smartphone app - will be examined.
It is well established in the literature that observation increases compliance, but no studies investigating patient self-monitoring through personal devices currently exists. This is a vital area of investigation given the recent explosion in personal health-assessing devices e.g. the Apple watch, Up band, fitbit, etc.

Arms & Interventions

Arms

Experimental: Feedback Group

Patients in the Feedback Group will receive their brace-wear (Cinch Smart Strap) compliance data via the Wellinks phone application (Cinch Mobile App). Patients will also receive their brace-wear compliance information at their standard of care follow-up visits.

Interventions

Device: - Cinch Smart Strap

The study device is a small (with dimensions of 1.5" x 2" x 3/8" and weighing approximately 0.9-oz) Bluetooth-enabled and battery-powered monitor with Velcro strap that attaches to orthopaedic braces for scoliosis in place of the traditional strap and buckle. When the Velcro strap is tightened, the device measures tension in Newtons with the vector of force parallel to and away from the device, reflecting the pulling force required to keep the brace fitted on the patient.

Other: - Cinch Mobile App

The Cinch App allows patients and parents to track and edit treatment information, sync data from the Cinch Smart Strap, and view compliance data. The app connects via Bluetooth to the Cinch Smart Strap and allows patients and parents save and sync data from the device.

Contact a Trial Team

If you are interested in learning more about this trial, find the trial site nearest to your location and contact the site coordinator via email or phone. We also strongly recommend that you consult with your healthcare provider about the trials that may interest you and refer to our terms of service below.

New York, New York

Status

Recruiting

Address

Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of NY Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center

New York, New York, 10032

Site Contact

Afrain Boby, MS

[email protected]

212-305-9367