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Measuring Diaphragm Electrical Activity in Neonates Using a Smaller Inter-electrode Distance

Mount Sinai Hospital, Canada logo

Mount Sinai Hospital, Canada

Status

Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Newborn
Infant, Premature

Treatments

Device: NVR 4mm Edi catheter

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

NCT05427929
21-0224-A

Details and patient eligibility

About

Neurally Adjusted Ventilatory Assist (NAVA) is a mode of ventilation where the electrical activity of the diaphragm (EDI) - a signal representing the baby's respiratory drive - is used to control the timing and amount of assist provided. NAVA was introduced to the market in 2007 and since has been used in more than 40 countries.

In the current clinical practice, the Edi signal from the patient is captured with miniature sensors (the size of a hair) embedded in the wall of a specially designed naso/orogastric feeding tube. This FDA and Health Canada approved, commercially available catheter (Getinge, Solna, Sweden), is 6 Fr in size (outer diameter), 49 cm in length and has 8 pairs of sensors that are placed 6 mm apart (so-called inter electrode distance (IED) is 6 mm).

While no obvious side effects have been noted by clinicians, for the smallest of neonates, the currently used commercial catheter (size 6F, 49 cm long) may have 'excessive' post-array catheter length. In these neonates, typically those with weight < 1000 grams, following the correct placement of catheter as per the electrode array positioning at gastro-esophageal junction, the feeding holes in the catheter may end at the level of distal stomach instead of the desirable mid-stomach location. The changing demographics of the patients in the Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) has created a clinical need to redesign the currently used Edi catheter specifically to suit the smallest of patients, such that following adequate placement the feeding holes sit at the level of mid-stomach. Drs. Christer Sinderby and Jennifer Beck in Toronto, Canada, are the original designers of the 6 mm/49 cm currently used Edi catheter. These investigators (at St-Michael's Hospital, Toronto) in collaboration with their team at Neurovent Research Inc. (NVR) have re-designed and invented a new prototype of the current FDA-approved catheter specifically suited for use in extreme premature neonates. They have done so by reducing the interelectrode distance from the originally set 6 mm to 4 mm, which reduces the overall insertion depth to capture the same signal from the diaphragm. All other parameters are exactly same as the original catheter (6F, 49 cm long).

In this small feasibility study the investigators wish to provide a clinical proof of concept for the use of this newly designed prototype in 10 extremely premature neonates who are already receiving NAVA ventilation in the NICU.

Full description

This is an unblinded pilot study to evaluate the performance of the new 4 mm IED. The procedures required for this evaluation include placement of the new NVR 4 mm Edi catheter, and ventilation in the NAVA mode. All these procedures are considered to have no significant additional risk. Supervision by a physician or respiratory therapist with expertise in Edi catheter and NAVA will be present, in line with the current clinical practice in the Mount Sinai NICU.

Enrollment

10 estimated patients

Sex

All

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

  • Neonates with current weight <1000g who are already receiving invasive or non-invasive NAVA ventilatory support using the standard 6 mm IED Edi catheter will be eligible for recruitment.

Exclusion criteria

  • Infants deemed to be unstable by the attending clinician from a respiratory or hemodynamic perspective
  • Known congenital or chromosomal anomalies
  • Any acute illness such as sepsis, necrotizing enterocolitis or acute pulmonary hypertension
  • Parental consent not available

Trial design

Primary purpose

Device Feasibility

Allocation

N/A

Interventional model

Single Group Assignment

Masking

None (Open label)

10 participants in 1 patient group

NVR 4mm Edi Catheter
Experimental group
Treatment:
Device: NVR 4mm Edi catheter

Trial contacts and locations

1

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Central trial contact

Amish Jain, MD, PhD; Laura Thomas, MSc

Data sourced from clinicaltrials.gov

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