Nerve Conduction Velocity
EMG (Electromyogram) used as a diagnostics tool for identifying neuromuscular diseases, assessing low-back pain, kinesiology, and disorders of motor control. EMG signals are also used as a control signal for prosthetic devices such as prosthetic hands, arms, and lower limbs.
A nerve conduction velocity test (NCV) is an electrical test that is used to determine the adequacy of the conduction of the nerve impulse as it courses down a nerve. This test is used to detect true nerve disorders (such as peripheral neuropathy and mononeuritis multiplex) or conditions whereby nerves are affected by mechanical compression injury (such as carpal tunnel syndrome and other compression neuropathies).
EMG/NCV
What is Electromyography (EMG)?
Nerves carry signals from the brain to the muscles and Nerves controls the action of the muscles by electrical signals, called impulses, that measures your nerve signalling and muscle response. Specifically, the needle EMG measures the electrical activity of your muscles. The aim of the EMG is to identify and determine the location, source of the problem.
Why is electromyography?
EMG can help your doctor determine the underlying cause of these symptoms.
Tingling
Numbness
Muscle weakness
Muscle pain or cramping
Paralysis
Involuntary muscle twitching (or tics)
Muscle disorders, such as muscular dystrophy
Radiculopathies
Peripheral nerve disorders that affect the nerves outside the spinal cord, such as carpal tunnel syndrome
Nerve disorders, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
The NVC test helps your doctor differentiate between an injury to the nerve fibre and an injury to the myelin sheath, the protective covering surrounding the nerve. It can also help your doctor tell the difference between a nerve disorder and a condition where a nerve injury has affected the muscles. The importance of an NCV test is to look for nerve damage. During the test, a nerve is directly stimulated with an electrical current to see how it reacts. NCV tests can help diagnose a variety of muscular and neuromuscular conditions.
Who needs NCV test?
An NCV test can be used to diagnose a number of muscular and neuromuscular disorders, including:
- Guillain-Barre syndrome
- carpal tunnel syndrome
- Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease
- herniated disk disease
- chronic inflammatory polyneuropathy and neuropathy
- sciatic nerve problems
- peripheral nerve injury