Head Impulse Testing Using Video-oculography

• Published in: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences Vol. 1164; no. 1; pp. 331 - 333
• Main Authors: Bartl, Klaus, Lehnen, Nadine, Kohlbecher, Stefan, Schneider, Erich
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Malden, USA Blackwell Publishing Inc 01.05.2009
• Subjects: bedside test; Head Movements; head thrust test; high-frame-rate video-oculography (VOG); Humans; Reflex, Vestibulo-Ocular; search-coil recording; semicircular canal; Semicircular Canals - physiology; vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR)
• ISSN: 0077-8923; 1749-6632; 1749-6632
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.03850.x

Head impulses are a routine clinical test of semicircular canal function. At the bedside, they are used to detect malfunctioning of the horizontal semicircular canals. So far, 3‐D‐search‐coil recording is required to reliably test anterior and posterior canal function and to determine the gain of the vestibulo‐ocular reflex (VOR). Search‐coil recording cannot be done at the bedside. Here we tested whether video‐oculography (VOG) is suitable to assess VOR gain for individual canals at the bedside. We recorded head impulses in healthy subjects using a mobile high‐frame‐rate, head‐mounted VOG‐device and compared the results with those obtained with standard search‐coil recording. Our preliminary results indicate that high‐frame‐rate VOG is a promising tool to measure and quantify individual semicircular canal function not only at the bedside.