Clinical trials

This open label clinical trial aims to assess the safety of abdominal vagus nerve stimulation (aVNS) for moderate to severe, adult-onset rheumatoid arthritis (RA) that has not responded to medication. The aVNS is an active medical device placed into the body to allow electrical stimulation of the abdominal vagus nerve. Participants will undergo stimulation treatment with the aVNS device from two to 24 weeks after the device is implanted by keyhole surgery. Safety, device performance and potential benefits will be assessed. Participants will be monitored for specific events for 5 years post surgery.

The goal of this clinical trial is to find out whether hearing test results using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) will help to fast-track early intervention for infants born with a hearing loss. fNIRS is a method of imaging brain activity using light. The main questions are: 1. Can audiologists make more confident decisions about the optimal interventions at different critical points in the hearing care pathway when they are given additional fNIRS information compared to when they have standard audiology test results alone? 2. Is the experience of their infant having an fNIRS test acceptable and comfortable for the parents or care givers?