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Completed

NCT Number: NCT03579238

Entrainment Between Clinician and Patient During Palpation

This study will assess the physiological interaction between the palpating clinician and a research participant using a laser Doppler flow meter to detect changes in blood flow parameters.

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Key information

Conditions

Doctor Patient Relation

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Western University of Health Sciences

Pomona, California, 91766, United States

About this study

Research participants will lie on their backs on a soft table while a licensed physician, with special training in osteopathic palpation and manipulation approaches, touches, and administers a slight inhibition of occipital bone motion for five minutes per stage. Both will have a non invasive skin sensor (probe), called a laser Doppler flow meter, attached to their forehead to detect changes in subcutaneous blood flow velocity. The signal from the device will be augmented and transmitted for display onto a digital polygraph recorder. Then, using Fourier transformation software, the signal will be displayed as a graph for spectral analysis to determine the effect on specific wave forms related to autonomic activity. The interaction between the two individuals will be assessed for evidence of entrainment phenomenon, i.e., the influence of one biorhythm upon another.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • healthy adult that can lie on his or her back on a padded table without moving for 35 minutes.

Exclusion criteria

  • head trauma within the last six months, seizure disorder, pregnant, brain disease or injury, using beta or alpha blocker medication, unable to lie still for 35 minutes, allergy to the hypoallergenic sticky tape used to attach sensor to forehead

Treatment and study plan

CV4

Procedure

The occiput of a supine patient is held such that flexion motion is inhibited and extension motion is reinforced.

Other names: Modified CV4, CV-4

touching

Procedure

the clinician allows the participant's head to rest quietly upon his open palms on a table.

Other names: light touch

Primary outcomes

  1. Entrainment of still points between clinician and research participant

    Time frame: within 1 minute of each other (arbitrary designation)

    When one person has a still point it may or may not affect the other person. If it does, then entrainment will have occurred. The clinician's intent is to create a still point in the participant by inhibiting occipital motion. This is measurable using the laser Doppler flow meter. The induction of the still point, which is manifest on the polygraph and in spectroscopy as a distinct diminished amplitude at the .08-1.5 Hz frequency, may entrain the clinician to have a still point as well.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Western University of Health Sciences

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Entrainment Interaction Between Physician and Patient During Palpation of the Cranium

Important dates

Study start
2018
Primary completion
2018
Study completion
2018
First posted
Jul 6, 2018
Registry last updated
Oct 3, 2018

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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