We cautiously refer to the materials below as education, and heartily hope they help you in some way. Please understand that much of this information has not been peer reviewed; therefore, verify these concepts yourself. We certainly in no way intend to recommend practice.
The following points are a suggestion on how to take your knowledge and skill set to the next level:
- Attend as many neurodiagnostic conferences as you can. Sit in the front seat and get involved in the discussion.
- Read the scientific literature. There are wonderful books and journals in our field.
- Read books on electronics, physics, anatomy, neuroanatomy, etc. If a subject is daunting to you, find a beginning text and you will soon find it starting to click!
Ohm’s Law for Neurodiagnostics
Ohm’s Law is really simple. It is. I promise. But I do admit that after putting together this video, I realize that I must stop saying things like “Ohm’s Law is really simple.” The reason? Topics in this video span many chapters of college-level electronic circuits texts. The reality is that the physics of electronics like Ohm’s Law are super simple once you have gone through the process of learning and understanding them. Until that time - they are a vague fog. Fingers crossed that you jump in and start learning. It is without doubt that understanding these relationships will make your neurodiagnostic practice better. The electronics concepts are almost as cool as the human tissue we get to study in neuroscience. Please take the related practice quiz and the ASET quiz for a CEU credit. (Thanks ASET!)
Surface Electrode & Tape Removal Physics
For years, I’ve wanted to take a closer look at how we remove our neurodiagnostic/neurology surface electrodes and adhesives such as tape from our patient’s skin. I was encouraged by the work the ASET Skin Safety Task Force and Petra Davidson did regarding electrode pressure lesions under long term monitoring. There are always more ingredients to throw into the stew. This was an attempt at illuminating some of the physics that apply to optimally removing such “sticky stuff”.
Pelvic Floor Neuromonitoring Webinar
Signal Gear was excited to co-host this webinar on Pelvic Floor Neuromonitoring. If you were unable to watch or would like to watch again, here is the link.
Electromagnetic Coupling Demonstrations
This video demonstrates Electromagnetic Coupling: Capacitive Coupling and Inductive Coupling are demonstrated using a cell phone, magnets and a directional electromagnetic field generated by a fluid warmer.
Capacitor Demo: Passing high frequencies through a capacitor
Our patient's skin, like many materials has capacitance, the ability to hold charge. The ability of capacitance to pass high frequencies allows current flow across materials we do not typically consider to be electrically conductive - as demonstrated in this video.
Isolated Ground Location Considerations
What impact does the location of our amplifier connection called Isolated Ground have on our recordings? This video demonstrates that the location of iso-ground can impact the extent of rejection of artifact. In some instances, it is even possible that the iso-ground electrode may enhance artifact pickup. Most important - THE LOCATION OF ISO-GROUND IS A TROUBLESHOOTING TOOL IN YOUR TOOLBOX!
Directional Electromagnetic Fields
This video demonstrates Electromagnetic Coupling between the directional electromagnetic field generated by a fluid warmer and three different configurations of leadwire - loose, parallel pair, and twisted pair.
Skin Capacitance Demonstration
This video demonstrates the capacitance of skin which allows it to easily pick up and transmit electrical artifact to our recording circuits.