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Leeds Community Trust Joins Revolutionary Stroke Trial

The Community Neurological Rehabilitation Team at Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust has become the latest to join a national trial of a new rehabilitation treatment, which aims to improve arm recovery after stroke. 

Known as TRICEPS, the £2 million trial is the first to see if a treatment known as Transcutaneous (through the skin) Vagus Nerve Stimulation (TVNS) can improve arm recovery after a stroke.  

Trial participants wear a lightweight, pacemaker-like device which connects to a wired earpiece. TVNS, which feels like a gentle tickle in the ear, is then automatically activated as the arm is moved during therapy. Participants can access the treatment at home without the need for a surgical implant or hospital admission and will use the TVNS device whilst carrying out a personalised therapy plan for 1-hour, 5 days a week, for 12 weeks. This will involve carrying out repetitive tasks such as moving objects, opening and closing bottles, and turning cards.

The research team at Leeds Community Healthcare is being led by Specialist Occupational Therapist, Vicky Carruthers and they recruited their first participants earlier this year.  

Vicky said, “We are excited to be taking part. It is great to be able to contribute to the development of new evidence and potential treatment options which could help people make more progress with their stroke recovery.”

Clinical Lead for Research Dr Jill Halstead-Rastrick said, “Supporting innovation and patient care in the home has the potential to promote independence and wellbeing and we’re proud to be a leading site.”

The TRICEPS trial is led by researchers from Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Sheffield and is funded by a partnership between the National Institute for Health and Care Research and the Medical Research Council.

Up to 243 patients from 18 UK stroke centres are set to be enrolled into the trial over the next two years. Bradford, Sheffield and Doncaster Trusts have also joined.  

If you had a stroke between 6 months to 10 years ago and still have some arm weakness, you may be eligible to take part.  

To find out more about the TRICEPS trial, or if you think you might be eligible to take part, please email triceps@sheffield.ac.uk who can put you in touch with a site near you. 

More information, including a short, animated video is available on the trial website here: www.triceps-trial.com.

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