Recruiting

Mental Imagery

Sponsor:

Marquette University

Code:

NCT06858293

Conditions

Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Mental Imagery Open Chain

Mental Imagery Closed Chain

Study Details

Brief summary:

The goal of this clinical trial is to understand if people recovering from anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) surgery will complete mental imagery training and if this will improve their injured leg's strength. The main questions are:

  • Will people complete a five-day mental imagery exercise schedule while in physical therapy for ACLR?
  • Does mental imagery exercise help raise leg strength during ACLR recovery? Researchers will also compare if different mental imagery exercises involving leg extension or squats will change leg strength.

Participants will be asked to:

  • Participate in two testing sessions to make measurements of leg function
  • Complete about 10 minutes of mental imagery exercises once per day for five days at home and write down whether they complete the exercises.

Conditions

Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

Study ID

NCT06858293

Start date

Feb 14, 2025

Status verified date

Feb, 2025

Completion date

Jan 28, 2026

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Jan 28, 2026

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • post anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) surgery
  • cleared to participate in physical therapy
  • currently in physical therapy related to ACLR

Exclusion Criteria:

  • greater than 9 months post ACLR surgery
  • history of lower back of hip pain that would limit lower limb motor testing
  • current neurological condition that limits muscle strength
  • history of substance abuse in the last 5 years
  • any uncontrolled medical condition
  • inability to follow 2-step commands

Study Design

Enrollment

20 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Other

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Mental Imagery Open Chain

Participants will receive a paper packet with instructions to imagine themselves performing seated maximal leg extension exercises. They will be instructed to imagine the feeling of the exercise for 5 seconds, rest for 5 seconds, and repeat this 50 times with a 2-minute rest period after the 25th repetition. They will also be asked to keep track of the exercises with tallies on a table within the packet and also to record on this table if they did not complete the exercises for that day. The participant is asked to perform the exercises on five consecutive days.

experimental: Mental Imagery Closed Chain

Participants will receive a paper packet with instructions to imagine themselves performing maximal standing squat exercises. They will be instructed to imagine the feeling of the exercise for 5 seconds, rest for 5 seconds, and repeat this 50 times with a 2-minute rest period after the 25th repetition. They will also be asked to keep track of the exercises with tallies on a table within the packet and also to record on this table if they did not complete the exercises for that day. The participant is asked to perform the exercises on five consecutive days.

Interventions

Mental Imagery Open Chain

Participants will receive a paper packet with instructions to imagine themselves performing seated maximal leg extension exercises. They will be instructed to imagine the feeling of the exercise for 5 seconds, rest for 5 seconds, and repeat this 50 times with a 2-minute rest period after the 25th repetition. They will also be asked to keep track of the exercises with tallies on a table within the packet and also to record on this table if they did not complete the exercises for that day. The participant is asked to perform the exercises on five consecutive days.

Mental Imagery Closed Chain

Participants will receive a paper packet with instructions to imagine themselves performing maximal standing squat exercises. They will be instructed to imagine the feeling of the exercise for 5 seconds, rest for 5 seconds, and repeat this 50 times with a 2-minute rest period after the 25th repetition. They will also be asked to keep track of the exercises with tallies on a table within the packet and also to record on this table if they did not complete the exercises for that day. The participant is asked to perform the exercises on five consecutive days.

Primary outcome measure

  • Feasibility of Intervention [ Time Frame: Once per day for 5 days ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Allison S Hyngstrom, PT, Ph.D.

4142884566allison.hyngstrom@marquette.edu

Locations

Marquette University

Recruiting

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, 53233

More Information

Sponsor

Marquette University

Last update posted

Mar 10, 2025

Last verified

Feb, 2025

Keywords

  • Mental Imagery
  • knee
  • strength
  • physical therapy

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-08. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Marquette University on 2025-03-10.