CAVA: Healthy Volunteer Trial
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Production of a device to obtain continuous ambulatory vestibular assessment (CAVA) – healthy volunteer trial
IRAS ID
240847
Contact name
John Phillips
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Norfolk & Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 8 months, 1 days
Research summary
Dizziness is a common condition that is responsible for a significant degree of material morbidity and burden on our health service. There are multiple causes of dizziness, and these originate from pathologies affecting a large variety of different organ systems. Dizziness is usually episodic and short-lived, so when a patient presents to their health care provider, examination is often normal. As such, diagnosis is challenging and patients often experience significant delay in receiving a diagnosis. We have developed a prototype device for monitoring dizziness and have tested it in a small group of volunteers. The results showed that our device is capable of accurately, precisely and reliably identifying periods of dizziness over a short period of time. Independent market research has confirmed that our device could meet the required clinical need, would be desired by clinicians, and that there is no equivalent solution currently available. We have received an award from the Medical Research Council to trial our device in a large cohort of healthy volunteers. Once completed, we will be positioned well to test our device in a cohort of patients with a defined dizziness syndrome, before further testing our device in a more diverse patient population. Once validated, developed and brought to market, the device would provide early diagnosis and accurate treatment for a significant proportion of the patient population. This would save the NHS money by reducing multiple visits to GP clinics, reducing referrals to multiple specialist clinics, and reducing treatment required from falls and other conditions associated with dizziness.
REC name
London - Dulwich Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/LO/0517
Date of REC Opinion
21 May 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion