Development of a tool for evaluating sensation

Investigators : Ms Kimberly Miller, Prof Mary Galea, Prof Tony Goodwin, Dr Heather Wheat

Loss of sensation is an important factor contributing to disability in three core clinical conditions: peripheral nerve injuries, peripheral neuropathies related to diagnoses such as diabetes mellitus, and disorders of the central nervous system such as stroke. Accurate and reliable methods to quantify sensation are essential to screen for sensory impairment, and to measure changes in sensation resulting from treatment of these conditions. Most sensation screening devices require time-consuming assessment protocols that are impractical in the clinic,

Our group has:

• Devised an instrument, the Nyloprint, for screening sensation of the hands and feet.   The assessment protocol for the instrument is quick and simple for easy application in variety of clinical settings;
• Established the screening instrument with high test-retest and inter-rater reliability such that it can be used to track individual changes in sensation over time or in response to treatment;
• Acquired pilot data for establishing an age-based normative database for sensation screening (Fig 1).

Figure 1 . Nyloprint thresholds for the index fingers of healthy adults aged from 18 to over 70 years of age.

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