Automated Vestibular Testing Device

The head impulse test (HIT) has become a standard part of the physical exam during clinical evaluation of patients with suspected vestibular disorders. To date, most quantitative HIT testing has been performed using head movements delivered manually by an examiner, with eye movements measured using the scleral coil technique. Obtaining high quality data using this approach is sufficiently time consuming for both patient and examiner to be impractical for routine clinical use. Manual delivery of head movements is less precise than might be achieved using a motorized system. Motorized chairs suitably powerful for whole-body rotation HIT testing are large and expensive, so interest has grown in development of a smaller unit able to deliver head-on-body rotations.

We have designed and constructed a small, inexpensive HIT testing device comprising of a high-torque but fail-safe goniometer coupled to the patient's head via a bite bar, atop which is mounted a video camera that monitors 3D eye rotation responses.

To Learn More:

Tjen Sin Lie, Bryce Chiang, Yichung Law, Grace Tan, Robert Romano, Luccie Wo, Americo Migliaccio, Hamish Macdougall, Charles C. Della Santina, “A Small Inexpensive Motor for Head Impulse Testing of Vestibular Function,” ARO MidWinter Meeting 2009 – Read it here.

Della Santina CC, Lie TS, Chiang B, “Systems and methods for testing vestibular and oculomotor function,” International Patent Application No. PCT/US2009/40486, filed April 14, 2009; claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/124,122, filed April 14, 2008