American Association of Electrodiagnostic Medicine Review: Quantitative Sensory Testing Equipment and Reproducibility Studies

This review is provided as a service to the membership of the American Association of Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AAEM). This paper discusses quantitative sensory testing (QST) equipment using the following sensory modalities: 1) light touch, 2) vibration, 3) thermal, and 4) pain. First, is a summary of the different QST equipment and the equipments’ specifications as reported in the literature. Second, is a table that summarizes the different reproducibility studies on vibration, thermal, and heatpain thresholds that have been reported since 1981. Other sensory testing devices such as the current perception test, tactile circumferential discriminator, and two-point esthesiometer are not included in the table. This review was based on searches of MEDLINE, and references from relevant articles published between 1966 and 2001. The following search terms were used quantitative sensory testing,” “QST,” “sensory threshold”,” “thermal threshold,” “temperature sense,” “vibration,” and “vibration threshold.” The search for literature included only articles written in English.