Home brain stimulation plus guided touch for phantom limb pain
Official title: Pragmatic Trial of Remote tDCS and Somatosensory Training for Phantom Limb Pain with Machine Learning to Predict Treatment Response
Funded at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital · NIH-11321673 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project sees if a portable brain stimulation device combined with guided touch exercises can lower phantom limb pain for people who have lost a limb.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Charlestown, United States) |
| Project start | August 1, 2015 |
| Project end | March 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $613,885 |
| NIH project number | 5R01HD082302-10 |
| Project ID | NIH-11321673 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults with phantom limb pain after amputation who are willing to use a home tDCS device and follow guided touch training and remote monitoring are ideal candidates.
✕Less likely to help
People without phantom limb pain or those with medical reasons that prevent brain stimulation (for example implanted electronic devices or uncontrolled seizures) may not receive benefit.
What this research studies
You would use a lightweight, portable transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) device at home together with guided somatosensory (touch) training. Treatment sessions are monitored remotely and the team collects pain reports and simple physiologic data such as parasympathetic tone. The researchers will apply statistical and machine learning methods to predict who benefits most from the therapy. This pragmatic approach moves the therapy out of the lab and into everyday life to test real-world use and feasibility.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could provide a low-cost, safe home treatment that reduces phantom limb pain and improves daily comfort.
How similar studies have gone: Previous controlled work by this team showed tDCS plus somatosensory training reduced phantom limb pain, and this project extends that work to a home-based, real-world setting with prediction tools.
Where this research is happening
-
Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital
Charlestown, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Fregni, Felipe — Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital
- Study coordinator: Fregni, Felipe
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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Home-based rehabilitation for phantom limb pain using a mobile app
A mobile app offers guided graded motor imagery exercises to help Veterans with lower-limb amputations manage phantom limb pain at home.
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Home-based therapy for managing phantom limb pain in Veterans with amputations
This study is creating a friendly mobile app to help Veterans with lower limb amputations manage phantom limb pain using fun exercises that train the brain, and we want to hear from them to make sure the app works well for their needs.
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Understanding what causes phantom limb pain after amputation
This study is looking at what causes phantom limb pain in people who have had an amputation, and it involves talking to those individuals to better understand their experiences and gather real-time feedback to help create more personalized treatments.
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Training the brain to reduce phantom limb pain
This study is testing a new, gentle therapy to help people who have lost a limb feel less phantom limb pain by training their brains to better process sensations.
-
Neuropathic pain after childhood amputation
This project sees how common phantom and residual limb neuropathic pain is and how it affects children and teens who had limb amputations.
-
Effects of magnetic stimulation on phantom limb pain in amputees
This study tests if using magnetic stimulation can help reduce phantom limb pain in people who have had upper limb amputations.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.