All Clinical Trials in Canada

Achilles tendinopathy is highly prevalent in runners, but its evolution is not easily predictable. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of clinical and social factors on the prognosis of acute (less than 3 months) Achilles tendinopathy in runners. Runners will be evaluated in person twice. At their first visit, data related to their training (frequency, intensity, ...), their running pattern (cadence, foot contact angle) and shoes (minimalist index) will be collected. Moreover, an ultrasound evaluation of Achilles tendon will be performed. At one, two and three months after their initial evaluation, participants will receive a link to complete an online survey about their pain. Three months after their initial evaluation, a second ultrasound of Achilles tendon will be performed. Read Less

C-sections may result in a lot of pain that is distressing to the mother, and can impact bonding with the baby. Although there are medications used to treat strong pain, they are not good to use after C-sections because they can affect the baby. There is a need for a pain management option that can reduce the use of medications. The investigators are testing the effects of a combined light and laser device (photo-biomodulation therapy; PBMT), used on the wound twice daily, with respect to pain right after surgery, and pain that lasts longer than 6 weeks after surgery. Read Less

Our objective in this study is to identify an optimal ultrasound spectroscopy parameter that can be used as an early predictor of pathological complete or partial response in men with prostate cancer and men and women with rectum and head and neck cancers receiving treatment radiotherapy. We have previously demonstrated that high-frequency ultrasound and spectroscopy, and recently conventional-frequency ultrasound and spectroscopy may be used to detect cell death in vitro, in situ and in vivo. The method can detect different forms of cell death and has been demonstrated to be sensitive to apoptotic, necrotic and mitotic cell death. The main goal, as described above, is to select the best ultrasound spectroscopy parameter to use as an early predictor of pathological complete response Read Less

Our objective in this study is to identify an optimal set of quantitative ultrasound parameters that can be used, non-invasively, to characterize breast masses with high accuracy, as determined histopathologically. Breast cancer is the most frequent form of non-epithelial cancer diagnosed in women, with approximately 1.5 million new cases diagnosed annually worldwide. Accurate diagnosis and characterization of disease play an important role in therapy planning for breast cancer treatment. Currently, the gold standard method of tumour diagnosis is pathological examination of core biopsy specimens. However, the invasive core biopsies can cause post-surgical complications. Besides, some lesions require repeat biopsy due to sampling errors during the initial biopsy. Also X-ray mammography and ultrasound B-mode images, which are used by radiologists for breast examination, lack reliable information about micro-structural properties of tissues. There is an urgent need of a non-invasive imaging modality that can provide rapid and quantitative information for breast tumour characterization, in real time and at the patient bed. The main goal, as described above, is to select the best quantitative ultrasound parameters that can facilitate breast cancer characterization, non-invasively. Read Less

This work explores the possibility of using ultrasound imaging and spectroscopy as a way of monitoring cell death, hence, tumour response to treatment. The hypothesis here is that it can be used as a way of monitoring early response to cancer treatment and predicting which patients continue on in their therapy to have a complete pathological response as a primary endpoint and tumour size decrease as a secondary endpoint. If this work is successful it could be used in the future early on in a cancer patient's treatment to predict whether or not a course of chemotherapy or radiotherapy is going to be successful. For example, in patients in which the analysis indicates a poor response the chemotherapy regimen could be changed to a more efficacious one or for those receiving radiotherapy predicted to have a poor response a radiosensitizing agent could be used to improve outcome. Read Less

In this study, PA imaging will be used to examine the physiological and physical changes in lymph node involvements of head and neck cancer during radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy. Our objective in this pilot study will be to evaluate if PA parameters change within the lymph node involvements during chemoradiation therapy over time. Our hope is to use this information to correlate the changes in measured PA parameters with radiological response. Read Less

Our objective in this pilot study will be to identify PA parameters that can distinguish benign vs. malignant lesions, and also, if PA parameters change with within breast tumors during chemotherapy treatment over time. Read Less

The objective of this study is to demonstrate the feasibility of novel MRI-guided ultrasound stimulated microbubble treatment to enhance radiation effects in humans receiving external beam radiotherapy delivered using a LINAC (linear accelerator) radiation therapy device. Read Less

This project proposes to compare epidural versus spinal anesthesia in patients having liver resection surgery. The investigators hypothesize that spinal anesthesia will result in improved blood pressure control postoperatively and reduce the amount of intravenous fluids required after surgery. Spinal anesthesia is expected to provide the same pain control benefits as epidurals, with faster recovery of function. Spinal anesthesia may be a simple and effective way to improve and enhance the recovery in the increasing number of patients requiring liver resection. Read Less

The goal of this Pilot Randomized Control Trial (RCT) is to determine if a larger RCT evaluating the effect of self-scar tissue massage of episiotomy and/or vagina/perineal tear scar tissue on pelvic health outcomes is feasible. The main questions it aims to answer are: Can the investigators recruit 130 participants and aim for 80% retention of participants in this study? Are the response rates to questionnaires and completeness of questionnaires acceptable? Do the participants find the self-scar tissue massage intervention easy and acceptable to perform and do they adhere to the protocol? Type of Study: Clinical Trial Participant Population/Health Conditions: The participant population will be 18 years of age or older, primiparous, within 1 year postpartum after vaginal delivery with healed episiotomy and/or vaginal perineal tear(s) as confirmed to them by their maternity care provider or family doctor at their 6 week postpartum check or other appointment. The participants will also need to have sufficient proficiency in English to understand intervention instructional video and complete written questionnaires. Investigators will compare the scores on two reliable and validated pelvic health questionnaires in those in the intervention and control groups. The intervention group will be provided an instructional video on self-scar tissue massage and asked to perform self-scar massage and record their intervention and experience over a 6-week period. The control group will receive routine postnatal care (no self-scar massage training or performance). Patient medical records will be used to collect demographic data and labour and delivery characteristics. Two reliable and validated pelvic health questionnaires will be used for outcome measures. Baseline outcomes will be performed at the start of the study and then repeated 6 weeks later and again 18 weeks later. Read Less

One in 60 children have a physical disability that can impact activities and participation. Occupational and physical therapies can be of great benefit, but are costly and difficult to access. Working with children, parents and clinicians, the investigators developed a mixed reality video game, Bootle Blast, which children can play to develop motor skills. Using a 3D sensor, Bootle Blast tracks movements and manipulation of real-life objects. Since 2017, Bootle Blast has been used in clinics by Holland Bloorview, Canada's largest children's rehabilitation hospital. Home use of Bootle Blast has resulted in positive clinical outcomes for children with cerebral palsy. Bootle Blast is not yet commercially available and has yet to be trialed in "real-world" contexts. To understand real-world implementation, Bootle Blast will be trialed for 14 weeks in the homes of 60 young people (6 to 17 years) with any motor condition that could be addressed by the Bootle Blast system, regardless of their diagnosis. The investigators will assess feasibility (e.g. independent home setup, ability to set/meet self-directed play time goals), enablers/barriers to use, and perceived value. User experience will inform product, training and resource development. The research team combines expertise in engineering design, medicine, physiotherapy, qualitative methods, commercialization, knowledge translation, and includes young people with lived experience. Read Less

We have previously demonstrated that high-frequency ultrasound and spectroscopy, and recently conventional-frequency ultrasound and spectroscopy may be used to detect cell death in vitro, in situ and in vivo. The method can detect different forms of cell death and has been demonstrated to be sensitive to apoptotic, necrotic and mitotic cell death. The objectives of this study are to evaluate the use of ultrasound imaging and spectroscopy as a predictive marker of advanced tumour response to combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Since neoadjuvant treatments may also act on tumour vasculature to "normalize" it we will also evaluate blood-vessel imaging by standard Doppler-imaging and with standard higher-resolution imaging using clinically approved microbubble contrast agents. The main goal, as described above, is to select the best ultrasound spectroscopy parameter to use as an early predictor of pathological complete response. Read Less