Nerve Conduction Velocity

(NCV)
神經傳導檢查
Principals
• application of a depolarising square wave electrical pulses to the skin
over a peripheral nerve, producing
• a propagated nerve action potential (NAP) recorded at a distant point over
the same nerve
• a compound muscle action potential (CMAP) arising from the activation of
muscle fibres in a target muscle supplied by the nerve
Principals
• Nerves may be stimulated through the skin with surface stimulators, or
via a needle placed close to a nerve or a nerve root
• recorded with surface or needle electrodes
• the time taken for the fastest axons to
conduct an impulse to the muscle
• the size of the response
Aim
• peripheral nerves contain many nerve fibres of different
• Diameters
• degrees of myelination
• afferent or efferent connections
• The NCS studies the fastest 20% of these fibres
• focal or continuous abnormalities in the length of the mixed, motor or
sensory nerve
• fastest conduction velocity
• velocity gradient
• CMAP size and shape
Diagnosis
• Myopathy 肌病
• Lambert-Eaton syndrome
• Myasthenia gravis 重症肌無力
• Carpal tunnel syndrome 腕隧道症候群
• Tarsal tunnel syndrome
• Diabetic neuropathy 糖尿病神經病變
• Bell palsy 貝爾氏麻痺症
• Guillain-Barré syndrome
• Brachial plexopathy 臂神經叢損傷
Diabetic Neuropathy: NCS
• symptomatic diabetic neuropathy
• demyelination and loss of large myelinated fibers→slowing of nerve
conduction velocity
• loss of axons→decrease in nerve action potentials
Retinography
眼底視網膜檢查
How it works
• A retina scanner uses infrared light for mapping. 
• an invisible beam of low-energy infrared light traces a circular path in the
retina at the back of the eye.
• capillaries absorb more infrared light than the surrounding tissue. 
• variation in the intensity of the reflection.
Diabetic Retinopathy: Retinography
• Assessing
• diabetic retinopathy
• growth of new blood vessels due to poorly
controlled blood glucose.
• regular fundus examinations (once every 6
months to 1 year) are important to screen
for diabetic retinopathy
• visual loss due to diabetes can be prevented by
retinal laser treatment if retinopathy is spotted
early