Inventors:
Lewis M. Nashner - Portland OR
F. Owen Black - Portland OR
David J. Lilly - Portland OR
Assignee:
NeuroCom International, Inc. - Clackamas OR
International Classification:
A61B 510
Abstract:
The presence of vestibular pathology is tested in an embodiment wherein the subject is placed on a support surface that is sway-referenced about an axis co-linear with the subject's ankle joints, if the subject is standing, or the subject's hip joints, if the subject is sitting. After the subject has assumed a position of equilibrium, a controlled external stimulus, such as an electrical, a caloric or a barometric stimulus, is applied to one or both of the subject's inner ears. It is then determined whether the stimulus produces a significant subject sway-response. In an alternative embodiment, the sway-response is monitored with the subject placed on a support surface that is sway-referenced about an axis perpendicular to the axis that is co-linear with the subject's ankle or hip joints. In another embodiment, the subject's visual orientation information is disrupted by means of a sway-referenced visual enclosure. In a further embodiment, the subject's head is aligned such that the sensitive axis of one vestibular end organ is aligned with the sway-reference axis.