different tests

Question 1

Electroencephalogram

Answer 1

(EEG)- Electro means electric, encephalo is Greek for
brain and gram (or graph) means to record. Hence, an electroencephalogram is an
electrical recording of the brain. A technologist applies electrodes to patient’s scalp with
tape in order to record the activity of neuron cells in the brain. This activity appears in
the form of squiggly lines on a computer screen. The patient sits back in a recliner and
relaxes. It takes 1 to 1½ hours to perform. There are no shots, needles, drugs, dyes or
radiation, therefore there are no side effects.

Question 2

Electromyography

Answer 2

(EMG)- Electro means electric, myo means muscle and
graphy means to record. Hence, an electromyography is an electrical recording of a
muscle.

Question 3

Nerve conduction study

Answer 3

• A technologist records with
  electrodes as a slight shock runs through a patient’s nerve pathway to see if a patient has
  nerve damage.

Question 4

EVOKED POTENITALS OR RESPONSES:

Answer 4

To evoke someone is similar to provoking
them. If you slap someone (evoke them), they may slap you back. The response you get
after evoking someone is the potential. If they slapped you back, you would write down
the subject responded by slapping the technologist back. During evoked potential
studies, electrodes (taped on) record from a nerve pathway after we evoke or stimulate
that pathway. We always test both eyes, ears, arms or legs so that we can compare the
two sides. All of the potentials appear in the form of squiggly lines on a computer
screen.

Question 5

Visual evoked potential or response

Answer 5

(VEP or VER)- A technologist records along the
optic nerve pathway (from our electrodes on the occipital area) as a patient watches a
checkerboard screen flash. The flashing of the screen is the evoke. The response that we
record from electrodes on the patient’s optic nerve pathway is the potential. It takes
about 30 to 45 minutes to perform. Symptoms that a patient may complain of for a
doctor to order a VEP are blurred vision, double vision, loss of vision… Disorders that
can be diagnosed with a VEP include multiple sclerosis and optic neuritis

Question 6

Brainstem auditory evoked potential or response

Answer 6

(BAER, BAEP, AER or AEP)- A
technologist records along the auditory nerve pathway as the patient listens to a loud
clicking from headphones. The clicking is the evoke. The response that we record from
electrodes on the patient’s auditory nerve pathway (from our electrodes on Cz, A1 & A2)
is the potential.

Question 7

Somatosensory evoked potential or response

Answer 7

A technologist records
along the somatosensory pathway as the patient feels a slight shock. The shock is the
evoke. The response that we record from electrodes on the patient’s somatosensory
pathway is the potential. This test can be done on a pathway in an arm or a leg. It takes
about 1 hour to do both arms. To do both arms and both legs would take about 2 hours.
Symptoms that a patient may complain of for a doctor to order an SSEP include
numbness, tingling or weakness of an extremity (arm/leg). Disorders that can be
diagnosed with an SSEP include multiple sclerosis, tumors and ALS/Lou Garrig’s
disease. SSEPs can evaluate damage to the spinal cord and the brainstem. SSEPs are
similar to NCS, the difference is that SSEPs are performed if the doctor suspects damage to the central nervous system and NCSs are performed if the doctor suspects damage to
the peripheral nervous system.

Question 8

Polysomnograph

Answer 8

Also called sleep studies. Poly means many, somno is Latin
for sleep and graph means to record. A polysomnograph is an all night recording of the
patient’s sleep patterns, which include brain waves, heart rate, respiration and movements
(many things are recorded). It takes from 8 to 10 hours to record a sleep study. There are
no shots, needles, drugs, dyes or radiation, so there are no side effects.
The preparation is the same as with an EEG, basically a sleep study is an all night
EEG. Symptoms that a patient may complain of for a doctor to order a PSG include
daytime sleepiness, the patients might stop breathing from time to time during sleep,
sleep walking and falling asleep at the wheel. Disorders that can be diagnosed with a
PSG include sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, night terrors and narcolepsy. Sleep
apnea is the number one reason we perform sleep studies.
There are no contraindications for a sleep study and the cost can be between

Question 9

Intraoperative monitoring

Answer 9

(IOM) also called surgical monitoring and OR (operating
room) monitoring- Many different kinds of neurological potentials can be recorded
during surgery.
An EEG can be recorded during a carotid endartarectomy. An endartarectomy is
where a surgeon clamps off an artery that supplies blood to the brain so that he can clean
out plaque that’s clogging the artery. If the surgeon clamps off the artery for too long, he
could cause the patient to have a stroke. The EEG recording would start to show changes
that could warn the surgeon.
Nerves can also be recorded in surgery to help prevent nerve damage during back
and neck surgery.
If a patient has seizures that cannot be controlled, a surgeon can “take out” that
area of the brain causing the seizures. Extensive neurodiagnostic testing (in the LTMU)
would be performed before this can occur.

Question 10

The Long Term Monitoring Unit

Answer 10

(LTMU) is a unit (wing) of the hospital where several
EEG patients are hooked up with either regular glued on or surgically implanted
electrodes that record from the brain for days or weeks at a time. Some of these patients
are surgical candidates for the above-mentioned removal of seizure causing brain tissue.
Others are patients in the neuro intensive care unit that are in a coma and we are
monitoring them to see if they are seizing or we give them certain treatments and see if it
is helping.