← Eichor
Study identifier: NCT07049952 Synced from ClinicalTrials.gov · July 29, 2026
● Recruiting

BabySTrong II taVNS Feeding Trial

Condition: Feeding Delays · Neonates and Term Infants  ·  Sponsor: Medical University of South Carolina

PhasePhase 2/Phase 3
Planned participants88
Who can joinAll sexes, 39 Weeks to 54 Weeks
Healthy volunteersNo

About this study

The long-term goal of this project is to develop a therapy to assist pre-term and term infants with brain injury overcome difficulties in learning to feed so that infants may be discharged home with their families and avoid the burdens of of a gastrostomy tube (G-tube) or prolonged home nasogastric feeding. Few other therapies exist for infants who are not making progress with feeding volumes at term age. To tackle this problem, we took the novel approach of pairing non-invasive nerve stimulation of the vagus nerve at the ear (taVNS) stimulation with the motor skills of feeding. In our pilot studies, 54% (19 out of 35) infants with feeding delays whose families were in discussions for G-tube placement, reached full oral feeds within 2 weeks, and infants who did not reach full feeds still improved their daily oral feeding volumes. Infants who got to full feeds showed stronger and more complex brain circuits associated with feeding motor skills. With this trial we will test the BabySTrong taVNS feeding system in a multicenter, randomized, controlled, blinded trial to show how well this feeding system works in improving the daily feeding volumes, the days to full oral feeds, and/or the number of infants who avoid G-tube/ home NG placement, and increasing connections in brain circuits. If this groundbreaking new approach to infant feeding is successful, we may decrease how long infants are in the hospital, costs with Gtubes and home NG feeds, and family and care provider burden…

This description comes directly from the study's public registry record.

Talk to the study team

Dorothea D Jenkins, MD  ·  843-792-2112  ·  jenkd@musc.edu

Gary Connor, RN  ·  207-281-2652  ·  gconnor@asclepiusresearch.com

Always discuss trial participation with your own doctor first.

Locations (1)

Shawn Jenkins Children's Hospital, Medical University of South CarolinaCharleston, South Carolina, United StatesRecruiting

Follow this study

Get one email when the public record changes — results posted, or the study's status changes. Nothing else, ever.

We email about this public record only. Unsubscribe anytime with one click. Never medical advice.

Is this your study? This page was generated automatically from the public registry record. Sponsors can claim it — free — to add branding and verified contact routing. Claim this page →

This page is independently generated by Eichor from the public ClinicalTrials.gov record and re-synced daily. It is not the sponsor's official website unless claimed. Nothing here is medical advice; eligibility is always determined by the study team — talk to your own doctor first.

Source record: clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT07049952