Neural Mechanisms of Immersive Virtual Reality in Chronic Pain

• Status: Recruiting
• Trial end date: 2027-11-01
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: All

Summary

This project examines, in chronic pain, the mechanisms of immersive virtual reality compared to the mechanisms of placebo hypoalgesia. The potential of developing new non-pharmacological premises for low-risk interventions for pain management is high.

• Phase: Phase 1/Phase 2
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: No

Details

• Lead Sponsor: University of Maryland, Baltimore
• Treatments: Naloxone

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age (18-88 years)

• English speaker (written and spoken)

• Temporal Mandibular Disorder (TMD) for at least 3 months

Exclusion Criteria:

• Present or past degenerative neuromuscular disease

• Cardiovascular, neurological diseases, pulmonary abnormalities, kidney disease, liver disease, history of cancer within past 3 years

• Cervical pain other than TMD related (e.g. stenosis, radiculopathy)

• Any personal (or family first degree) history of mania, schizophrenia, or other psychoses

• Severe psychiatric condition (e.g., schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, autism) leading to hospitalization within the last 3 years.

• Use of antidepressants, ADHD medication, non-over-the-counter painkillers, methadone, benzodiazepines, barbiturates, and/or narcotics during the past 3 months

• Lifetime alcohol/drug dependence or alcohol/drug abuse in the past 3 months

• Pregnancy or breastfeeding

• Color-blindness

• Pain in jaw or temple in last 3 months due to toothache or infection

• Any facial trauma that has occurred in the last 6 weeks

• History of severe facial trauma in the last 3 months

• Impaired or uncorrected hearing

• Conditions that would interfere with the VR mask placement (e.g. trauma, burn, infection)

• Known history of severe motion sickness

• High blood pressure or symptomatic low blood pressure

• History of fainting

• History of angioedema

• Failed drug test (testing for opiates, cocaine, methamphetamines, amphetamines, and THC)