axm397 said:
This is kind of funny because we just had grand rounds by Dr. Dillingham from MCW who lectured on the state of electrodiagnostic services in the U.S. Basically about the prevalence of unethical practices in electrodiagnostic medicine including mobile NCS units, hand held devices like the neural scan, and untrained people performing NCS/EMGs. I would be skeptical of any machine that is supposedly able to diagnose conditions without some kind of cerebral input from a neuromuscularly trained physician. Also, would you want to have radiculopathy diagnosed by this machine then go on to surgery?
It takes years of training to become a competent electrodiagnostician. This machine sounds like one of those gimmicks used solely to increase profit for a practice.
First off...up front, I agree with most of what's been said. But let's look at "ideas" from another angle, whether they are upcoming, struggeling, or dismal.
Are we completely satisfied with current solutions?....should we be? In my opinion, its often tough for docs to step out of the box and entertain new ideas for diagnosis and treatment. We should always be skeptical (we are scientists first), but open to the progression of ideas.
But, I believe it is not in the interest of the progression of ideas to completely bash a potentialy new and useful technology before more is understood. New information/technology/treatment deserves a closer look with the scrutiny of good science before it's either placed on a pedestle or bashed in public forums.
Is this a "gimmick to solely increase the profits of a practice"? That sounds like a defensive statement, with no reasonable objective proof. Afterall, in this case, if this machine is indeed significantly more sensitive for the diagnosis of radiculopathy then conventional electrodiagnostic studies, that would make a lot of electromyographers uneasy, to say the least. Independent bodies such as the AMA, FDA, and most insurance carriers (according to the neuro-scan website) have already screened and approved its use in clinical practice.
Regardless, I believe the neural-scan has no potential to replace EMG/NCS studies, at most it has the potential to enhance the sensitivity of our neurologic physical exam.
In my opinion, the scientific theory is interesting for the neural-scan, as well as, its design and ease of use, but the design for its clinical trials, thus far, are laughable and should be embarassing to the company and to any official body condoning its use.
To my knowledge, application for the neural-scan has not been proven by other than anectodotal evidence and a few trials, but then again it has not been disproven at all.
check out this website and go through the on-line video presentations found at the following website:
http://www.sensorymedicine.org/video.cfm
Thoughts?