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Neurodiagnostics
January 31, 2009 |
Neurodiagnostic testing helps doctors diagnose many disorders of the brain, nerve
and spinal cord. One of these tests includes an electroencephalogram, or EEG.
Carol Emmick is the manager of the Neurodiagnostic Department with Lee Memorial
Health System. She says, “With the electroencephalograms we are recording the electrical
activity of the brain. Patients that have seizures, epilepsy, possible brain tumors,
strokes, anything with that diagnosis, these are the procedures that will diagnose
that.”
Unlike the EEG, which measures brain activity by placing electrodes over multiple
areas of the head, one test measures signals by placing electrodes over different
areas of the body. “What we do is we evoke an electrical current to a nerve whether
it be in the leg or the arm, and we get basically the brain waves at each point
that we have applied electrodes,” adds Emmick. Based on the findings doctors are
able to determine an accurate diagnosis to begin treatment immediately.
Emmick says, “It’s like pieces to a puzzle. This is a piece to the puzzle for the
physician
to help with the treatment plan.” Many neurological conditions discovered
with these advanced methods of tests include multiple sclerosis, epilepsy and cerebral
palsy.
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