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NCT Number: NCT07628179

SENECA - Smart Therapies for Chronic Pain

This will be a randomized controlled prospective pilot study: The feasibility and usability of VIVO 2nd GEN therapy + Standard-of-Care (SoC) vs. Standard-of-Care alone will be evaluated.

At baseline, after informed consent and evaluation of inclusion and exclusion criteria, evaluation of pain on painDETECT, quality of life (EQ-5D-5L questionnaire), mental health (HADS questionnaire), and the effect of back pain on function and daily activities (ODI questionnaire) will be performed. After that, all patients will start their multimodal treatment plan.

The control group will only receive SoC multimodal therapy training (this includes specifically: physio group therapy, water therapy, strength training, Nordic walking, massages, thermos therapy, lectures and trainings, psychotherapy, local electrotherapy).

The treatment group will additionally receive pVNS as add-on therapy. Within this study the next generation device VIVO 2nd GEN will be used within a pVNS proofed indication.

The study documentation in both groups will be supported by a digital diary App (VIVO® Pal) and an online dashboard for physicians/therapists (Therapy Management System - TMS), allowing for pseudonymized data entries and management.

Patients will remain on treatment for 4 weeks. All patients will be evaluated using questionnaires (painDETECT, EQ-5D-5L, HADS, ODI) at baseline, weekly during treatment for 4 weeks, by end of treatment and at 4 weeks (optional 3 months and 6 months) follow-up (e.g., via telephone or the App, see below).

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Key information

Conditions

Chronic Low Back Pain (CLBP) Chronic Pain Neurologic Manifestations Pain Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms Signs and Symptoms

Age range

30 year–65 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Klinikum Klagenfurt am Wörthersee

Klagenfurt, Carinthia, 9020, Austria

Location contact

Hans-Jürgen Gallowitsch, Univ.-Doz. Dr.

CONTACT

[email protected]

+43 463 538-31000

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

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

Inclusion criteria

  • Male or female aged between 30 and 65 years
  • Indication: chronic myofascial/musculoskeletal back pain
  • normal function of spinal nerves
  • Intractable pain for more than 6 months
  • Patient on oral pharmacotherapy ≤ WHO II with no adequate response or intolerant
  • Average pain over the last 4 weeks according to the painDETECT subscale ≥ 4 and ≤ 9 at baseline
  • ODI 20-80 at baseline
  • Basic digital understanding to work with the patient pain app
  • Patient understands the therapy and procedures, agrees to its provisions, and gives written informed consent prior to any procedures

Exclusion criteria

  • Organic low back pain (trauma, fracture, tumor, infection, severe degenerative spine, documented high-grade spinal stenosis, rheumatologic conditions)
  • Indication for back surgery
  • Back surgery within the last 6 months
  • New analgesics 2 weeks before baseline (paracetamol, NSAIDs, Metamizol, etc.)
  • Opioid analgesic therapy > WHO II
  • New physical therapy modalities for back pain, also TENS, 2 weeks before baseline
  • History of vagus nerve stimulation or electrical auricular stimulation
  • History of vasovagal syncope
  • High BMI > 35 kg/m² (Obesity Class 2 or higher)
  • Hemophilia
  • Autonomic disorders
  • Advanced stage or poorly controlled diabetes mellitus type I or II
  • Poorly controlled high blood pressure
  • Major psychiatric comorbidity (HADS > 10 on each subscale at baseline)
  • Other serious clinically relevant co-morbidity
  • History of arrhythmia, bradycardia, other rhythm disorders or any other clinically significant cardiac anomalies
  • Infection, eczema, or psoriasis at application site (ear and neck)
  • Numbed and desensitized skin at the application site (ear and neck)
  • Chronic drug or alcohol abuse within the last 6 months
  • Pregnant or nursing female patients
  • Active implantable device
  • Open pension request
  • Currently participating in another clinical trial or participated over the last 3 months
  • Change in concomitant treatment or medication during the study

Treatment and study plan

VIVO 2nd GEN

Device

VIVO 2nd GEN is a wearable medical device for personalized pain treatment through percutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (pVNS). It is the next-generation device of the CE-marked pVNS device VIVO®, which is approved for chronic pain indications including chronic back pain. It is a battery-operated electrical stimulation device, to be placed behind the ear on the neck, and connects to three needle electrodes, which are placed in vagally innervated regions of the auricle. It emits electrical signals with a defined set of parameters, i.e., fixed pulse width, fixed frequency, fixed bursted stimulation, but with adjustable amplitude and fixed duty cycle. It is smaller and lighter than VIVO® and the stimulator is re-usable with single-use battery pack and needle electrodes. Stimulation parameters are equal to VIVO®.

Other names: auricular vagus nerve stimulation, percutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation

Standard-of-Care Multimodal Pain Therapy

Other

The Standard-of-Care multimodal pain therapy includes specifically: physio group therapy, water therapy, strength training, Nordic walking, massages, thermos therapy, lectures and trainings, psychotherapy, local electrotherapy, medical evaluation

Primary outcomes

  1. Oswestry Disability Index (ODI)

    Time frame: Change from baseline to end of treatment (visit V5) at 4 weeks

    Questionnaire for assessing functional status and quality-of-life impairment in patients with low back pain or spinal cord disease and injury. The ODI score ranges from 0 - 100%, with higher scores indicating a more severe disability

Secondary outcomes

  1. Questionnaire: Patient evaluation of device perception and usability

    Time frame: Perception and usability of the VIVO 2nd GEN device is assessed at end of treatment (EoT) at 4 weeks. Perception and usability of the VIVO® Pal smartphone app is assessed at EoT at 4 weeks and at follow ups 4 weeks, 3 months and 6 months after EoT.

    Patient evaluation of perception and usability of the VIVO 2nd GEN investigational medical device and the VIVO® Pal smartphone app using questionnaires.

    Patients rate agreement with statements on ease of use, tolerability, wearing comfort of the investigational medical device (e.g. "The device was easy to use", "I quickly got used to the device") on scales from 1 (does not apply at all) to 5 (fully applies). Patients rate interference of the device with everyday activities separately for each of 9 activities as "unchanged", "more difficult" and "much more difficult".

    Patients rate agreement with statements on ease of use, functionality and optic impression of the accompanying smartphone app on scales from 1 (does not apply at all) to 5 (fully applies).

  2. Questionnaire: Physicians' evaluation of device perception and usability

    Time frame: Perception and usability of the VIVO 2nd GEN device assessed at end of treatment (EoT) at 4 weeks. Perception and usability of the VIVO® Pal smartphone app and web dashboard at EoT at 4 weeks and at follow ups 4 weeks, 3 months and 6 months after EoT.

    Physician's evaluation of satisfaction with therapy and usability of VIVO 2nd GEN device, VIVO® Pal (smartphone app) and therapy management system (web dashboard) using questionnaires.

    Physicians rate agreement with statements application and adjustment of the device (e.g. "After training, it was easy to correctly apply the device") on scales from 1 (does not apply at all) to 5 (fully applies). Physicians rate agreement with statements on ease of use, functionality and optic impression of the accompanying smartphone app and web dashboard on scales from 1 (does not apply at all) to 5 (fully applies).

  3. Health-related quality of life questionnaire (EQ-5D-5L)

    Time frame: Change from baseline to end-of-treatment at 4 weeks and to follow up at 4 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months after end-of-treatment.

    Health-related quality of life is reported by patients using the EuroQOL 5 dimensions, 5 levels questionnaire. The EQ-5D-5L consists of 2 pages: the EQ-5D descriptive system and the EQ visual analogue scale (EQ VAS).

    The descriptive system comprises five dimensions: mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression. Each dimension has 5 levels: no problems, slight problems, moderate problems, severe problems and extreme problems. The patient is asked to indicate his/her health state by ticking the box next to the most appropriate statement in each of the five dimensions. This decision results in a 1-digit number that expresses the level selected for that dimension. The digits for the five dimensions can be combined into a 5-digit number that describes the patient's health state.

    On the EQ VAS, patients rate their health on a vertical visual analogue scale where endpoints are labelled 'The best health you can imagine' and 'The worst health you can imagine'.

  4. Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)

    Time frame: Change from baseline to end-of-treatment at 4 weeks and to follow up at 4 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months after end-of-treatment.

    The HADS serves as a self-report instrument to assess anxiety and depression, particularly in medical settings. It comprises 14 items, evenly split between two subscales: seven items assessing anxiety and seven evaluating depression. Each item focuses on emotional symptoms, such as feeling tense or cheerful, using a 4-point Likert scale ranging from 0 (not at all) to 3 (most of the time). Total scores range from 0 to 42, with higher scores indicating greater symptom severity.

  5. Pain Questionnaire painDETECT

    Time frame: Change from baseline to end-of-treatment at 4 weeks and to follow up at 4 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months after end-of-treatment.

    Patients rate pain intensity, type and progression at the reporting timepoint and during the preceding four weeks using the PainDETECT questionnaire. It consists of 9 items. There are 7 weighted sensory descriptor items (never to very strongly) and 2 items relating to spatial and temporal pain characteristics.

  6. Smartphone-App Patient-Reported Outcomes

    Time frame: Throughout the clinical investigation; from baseline to follow up (up to 6 months after end of treatment)

    Within the VIVO Pal smartphone applications, patients are encouraged to enter additional patient reported outcomes on overall wellbeing, sleep, mobility, and pain. These items are rated on 5-point-scales ranging from "very bad" to "very good". Patients can also enter their medication throughout the study (in addition to concomitant medication querying by the investigator at in-patient and telemedical visit).

  7. Socioeconomic Data Questionnaire

    Time frame: Change from baseline to end-of-treatment at 4 weeks and to follow up at 4 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months after end-of-treatment.

    Patients report socioeconomic data like work status (working, full time/part time, sick leave, retired, etc.)

Other outcomes

  1. Safety Endpoints

    Time frame: AEs and DDs from baseline until end of treatment at 4 weeks; SAEs and related AEs from baseline until end of follow-up at 6 months after end of treatment

    • Adverse Events (AEs)
    • Device Deficiencies (DDs)
    • Serious Adverse Events (SAEs)

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Stefan Kampusch, DI

CONTACT

[email protected]

+43 650 36 99 271

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Aurimod GmbH

Industry

Collaborators

  • AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH

Registry information

Official study title

Efficacy of Percutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation Within the Multimodal Pain Therapy (SENECA): A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study

Acronym: SENECA

Important dates

Study start
2026
Primary completion
2027
Study completion
2027
First posted
Jun 4, 2026
Registry last updated
Jun 4, 2026

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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