NEW METHOD TO IDENTIFY UNILATERAL VESTIBULAR DYSFUNCTION

描述：(改编自申请者摘要) 该项目的长期目标是开发一种新的临床测试，可以 识别和描述前庭功能不对称的严重程度 在两只耳朵之间。初步结果表明，一项基于 一种新方法引起的前庭-眼反射(VOR)眼动的测量 旋转刺激可以克服两个主要方面的显著局限性 临床测试(卡路里和常规旋转)目前用于评估 前庭功能。如果被证明有效，这种诊断测试可能会迅速 自旋转测试设备可用于临床实践以来 提供提议的新的旋转刺激目前在大多数 主要的医疗中心。 该提案有三个具体目标。第一个目标是使用建模 和模拟研究，以调查生理特性如何 前庭神经传入和VOR可能影响 新的旋转刺激，以准确识别前庭不对称。这些 属性包括主半圆的静态和动态特性 管传入神经，半规管相对于1的方位 另一种是关于旋转轴的，以及动态特性 由于大幅度旋转运动而产生的眼球震颤。这个 第二个目标是使用实验研究来确定准确的规格 新的旋转刺激，并调查方法因素 影响新测试的灵敏度。第三个目标是验证 建议的新测试的临床适用性通过比较以下结果 卡路里和常规旋转测试，结果来自拟议的新 旋转试验。不同水平的受试者的实验结果 部分单侧前庭缺失将决定疗效和 拟议的新旋转测试的可靠性。

DESCRIPTION:(adapted from applicant's abstract) The long-term goal of this project is to develop a new clinical test that can identify and characterize the severity of an asymmetry of vestibular function between the two ears. Preliminary results suggest that a test based on measurement of vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) eye movements evoked by a novel rotational stimulus can overcome the significant limitations of the two main clinical tests (caloric and conventional rotation) currently used to evaluate vestibular function. If proven effective, this diagnostic test could be rapidly adopted into clinical practice since rotation test equipment capable of delivering the proposed new rotational stimulus is currently in used in most major medical centers. There are three specific aims in the proposal. The first aim is to use modeling and simulation studies to investigate how physiological properties of vestibular-nerve afferents and VOR are likely to influence the ability of the new rotational stimulus to accurately identify a vestibular asymmetry. These properties include static and dynamic characteristics of primary semicircular canal afferents, orientation of the semicircular canals with respect to one another and with respect to the rotation axis, and dynamic characteristics of nystagmus generated in response to large amplitude rotational motions. The second aim is to use experimental studies to determine exact specifications for the new rotational stimulus, and to investigate methodological factors that influence the sensitivity of the new test. The third aim is to verify the clinical applicability of the proposed new test by comparing results from caloric and conventional rotation tests with results from the proposed new rotation test. Experimental results from subjects with different levels of partial unilateral vestibular loss will determine the effectiveness and reliability of the proposed new rotation test.