The GA Stimulation Ventilation Study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The GA Stimulation Ventilation Study
IRAS ID
194713
Contact name
Philip Pemberton
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
R&D Department Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
, http://www.research.uhb.nhs.uk/trials/rrk5665
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 1 months, 29 days
Research summary
Recent studies have demonstrated that it may be possible to reduce the amount of muscle loss that occurs in the main breathing muscle whilst patients in intensive care are on breathing machines. Reduction of this muscle loss is achieved by stimulation of the main muscle of breathing, the diaphragm. This was initially done with the use of electrical stimulation, a mode of stimulation that can be quite painful and requires the surgical implanting of stimulating electrodes. More recently magnets have been shown to be able to provide the necessary stimulation but are able to do so in non-invasive and well tollerated way.
When placed directly over the nerves that supply the diaphragm (the phrenic nerves), magnetic stimulation is able to cause contraction of this muscle. Generally one brief twitch of the muscle is produced at a time for the purpose of measuring the strength of the diaphragm.
However it has recently been demonstrated that it is possible to use these magnets to stimulate the diaphragm to mimic normal breathing. Initial studies have demonstrated that magnetic stimulation of the diaphragm was able to produce normal breathing volumes in healthy volunteers.We plan to demonstrate that magnetic stimulation is also able to mimic normal breathing in patients having a general anaesthetic for elective surgical procedures.
REC name
East Midlands - Nottingham 1 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/EM/0010
Date of REC Opinion
3 Feb 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion