Artificial Intelligence-based, Virtual Reality Application to Provide Data- Driven, Patient-centred Treatment for People With Eating Disorders (OASIS)

King's College London

Status: Not yet enrolling

Conditions: Feeding and Eating Disorders; Anorexia Nervosa

Treatments: Behavioral: OASIS virtual reality (VR) program

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT07353151

IRAS: 359405

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this clinical trial is to see if a short virtual reality (VR) program can be used safely and comfortably with people receiving care for anorexia nervosa. The study will also check if people are willing to take part and complete the full week of VR sessions.

The main questions the study will answer are:

Can the investigators recruit and keep participants in the study? Do participants complete most of the VR sessions? Do they find the experience helpful and acceptable? Are there any side effects, like nausea or dizziness?

Participants will:

• Take part in one VR session each weekday (about 20 to 30 minutes) for one week
• Continue their usual care during this time
• Answer questions before and after the VR sessions about their anxiety, mood, motivation, and experience
• Some participants may join a short interview or focus group to share feedback

The VR program includes scenes for food-related exposure, calming music, motivational phrases, and goal setting. The app was designed with help from people with lived experience of anorexia and based on psychological therapies used in treatment.

Who can take part:

• Adults aged 18 or older
• People receiving or waiting for care for anorexia nervosa at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM)
• People who are medically stable and able to give informed consent

Why this matters:

This study will help researchers understand if using VR in eating disorder services is practical, safe, and acceptable. The results will help plan a larger trial in the future to see if this type of VR treatment can support recovery from anorexia nervosa. Taking part is voluntary, and participants can stop at any time.

Full description

This single-site, open-label feasibility clinical trial will test a brief virtual reality (VR) program (OASIS) delivered alongside treatment as usual for adults with anorexia nervosa. OASIS was co-developed by South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM), King's College London, and SyncVR Medical UK with input from people with lived experience.

The VR sessions are designed to support recovery by providing:

• Food-related exposure scenes to practise approaching commonly avoided foods
• Relaxing environments with music
• Motivational prompts and goal-setting within the VR experience

Participants complete five supervised VR sessions over one week (about 20-30 minutes each) in inpatient, day service, or outpatient settings. A clinician or trained researcher is present for all sessions. Pacing can be adjusted, and sessions can be paused or stopped at any time.

Feasibility will be assessed using study process measures (for example, recruitment and retention, session completion, and brief usability/acceptability feedback) and session logs. Safety is monitored during every session and via routine clinical information already collected in care; no additional research blood tests are required.

Participants complete brief assessments at baseline and after the one-week intervention. These include validated self-report measures of eating-disorder symptoms, food-related fear, mood/anxiety, and motivation, plus very short ratings around sessions to track immediate experience (for example, anxiety or relaxation). A subset may take part in a short interview or focus group to describe what felt helpful or difficult and suggest refinements.

There is no randomization or control arm in this feasibility phase. Findings will be used to decide whether and how to run a larger randomized controlled trial, including practical procedures (for example, session dose and outcome burden), expected adherence, safety monitoring steps, and willingness to be randomized.

Enrollment: 45 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Adults ≥18 years.
• Anorexia nervosa receiving or awaiting treatment as usual (TAU) within South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (inpatient, day service, or outpatient).
• Medically stable and clinically suitable to take part in brief VR sessions alongside TAU (as judged by the treating team).
• Able to give informed consent.

Exclusion criteria

• Current or recent (within 12 months) serious self-harm with suicidal intent, or behaviour that posed a risk to life (e.g., overdose, deep cutting, swallowing sharp objects), or self-harm likely to cause lasting impairment.
• Active suicidality or high risk of suicide.
• Untreated or unstable epilepsy.
• Psychotic disorder.
• Outpatient participants with BMI < 10.
• Current participation in another research study or clinical trial.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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45 participants in 1 patient group

OASIS VR + Treatment as Usual (TAU)

Experimental group

Description:

Single-group, open-label feasibility arm. Participants receive a brief virtual reality (VR) program (OASIS) alongside treatment as usual. The VR program is delivered as five supervised sessions over one week (≈20-30 minutes per session) in inpatient, day service, or outpatient settings.

Treatment:

Behavioral: OASIS virtual reality (VR) program