Liquid cooling system for the vibro-tactile threshold device.

Vibrotactile threshold testing has been used to investigate activation of human somatosensory pathways. A portable vibrotactile threshold testing device called the Vibrotactile Threshold Evaluator for the Workplace (VTEW) was designed for screening of carpal tunnel syndrome in the workplace, and initially contained a small fan for cooling. During subject testing, the device is operated intermittently, which causes the linear actuator to warm the tactile probe.

Progress in vibrotactile threshold evaluation techniques: a review.

Vibrotactile threshold (VT) testing has been used for nearly a century to investigate activation of human somatosensory pathways. This use of vibrotactile stimuli provides a versatile tool for detecting peripheral neuropathies, and has been broadly used for investigation of carpal tunnel syndrome. New applications include investigation of drug-induced neuropathies and diabetes-related neuropathies.

Development of a carpal tunnel syndrome screening method using structured interviews and vibrotactile testing.

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a debilitating and expensive health problem. An inexpensive screening method that would differentiate between people who do not have CTS and those that may have CTS would be useful. The screening methodology investigated here had two phases: a structured interview and provocative vibrotactile testing (VT).

Comparison of paclitaxel and cisplatin effects on the slowly adapting type I mechanoreceptor.

Cisplatin and paclitaxel are two of the most widely used chemotherapy drugs for the treatment of several forms of cancer. Both agents produce significant levels of peripheral neuropathy that can result in changes of treatment regimen. Although there have been recent efforts to understand the effects of these agents on nociceptor populations, little study has been made on their effects on large afferent populations.

Pain and stress in a systems perspective: reciprocal neural, endocrine, and immune interactions.

Unlabelled: This paper advances a psychophysiological systems view of pain in which physical injury, or wounding, generates a complex stress response that extends beyond the nervous system and contributes to the experience of pain. Through a common chemical language comprising neurotransmitters, peptides, endocannabinoids, cytokines, and hormones, an ensemble of interdependent nervous, endocrine, and immune processes operates in concert to cope with the injury. These processes act as a single agent and comprise a supersystem.

Effects of prolonged wrist flexion on transmission of sensory information in carpal tunnel syndrome.

Unlabelled: Carpal tunnel syndrome presents a constellation of symptoms which include discomfort (eg, pain, paraesthesia) and diminished sense of touch. This exploratory study simultaneously measured changes in tactile threshold and discomfort ratings during prolonged wrist flexion in symptomatic patients from a rehabilitation clinic and from a control population. Prolonged (15 min) wrist flexion significantly increased tactile threshold and discomfort ratings above baseline levels in both symptomatic and control populations.

Substance P axons and sensory threshold increase in burn-graft human skin.

Background: Our knowledge of afferent nerve fiber reinnervation of grafted skin following third-degree burn is limited by a lack of quantitative histological and psychophysical assessment from the same cutaneous area. The current study compares fiber profile and functional recovery measurements in injured and control skin from the same subject.

Materials And Methods: Nerve regeneration and modality-specific sensory thresholds were compared using immunocytochemical labeling with protein gene product 9.

5-HT2 and 3 receptor antagonists suppress the response of rat type I slowly adapting mechanoreceptor: an in vitro study.

Previous experiments have shown an increase in rat type I mechanoreceptor responsiveness during arterial serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine) infusion and the presence of serotonin immunostaining in Merkel cells. The current findings demonstrate that the 5-HT(2) antagonists ritanserin and ketanserin, as well as the 5-HT(3) antagonist MDL 72222, reduce type I response to a standardized mechanical stimulus in an in vitro skin preparation. In addition, ritanserin blocked the enhancement of type I response produced by 5-HT.