Part of Cedars-Sinai's Neurology Department, the Neurophysiology Laboratory offers sophisticated diagnostic procedures to help doctors identify neurologic conditions and develop treatment plans. Available tests include:
- Electroencephalograms (EEG), which measure the electrical activity of the brain
- Auditory evoked potential tests, which detect the rate of conduction between the ear and the brain
- Nerve conduction studies, which test electrical activity in nerves
- Electromyograms (EMG), which measure electrical activity in the muscles
- Visual evoked potential tests, which measure the rate of conduction between the retina and the brain
- Somatosensory evoked potential tests, which measure conduction of certain nerve pathways between the peripheral nerves through the spinal cord to the brain
- ICU monitoring - determining the depth of coma in patients with brain injury receiving protective treatment with barbiturates to reduce brain metabolism and intracranial pressure
- Long-term video-EEG monitoring - monitoring of patients with seizures and conditions mimicking seizures with video recordings to determine whether patients have seizures and localizing seizures in candidates for epilepsy surgery
- Neurophysiological monitoring for invasive neuroradiology - some aneurysms are treated through coils without brain surgery, and monitoring is necessary to determine whether the treatment may cause brain damage
- Angio-WADA-neurophysiological monitoring to determine which side of the brain is dominant and whether memory function will be affected by certain types of surgery.
The Neurophysiology Lab also provides monitoring of brain function during surgery . We continously monitor many spinal and brain surgeries in real time as to alert the surgeon of potential damage to the nervous system. Our team consists of technologists with special training in intraoperative monitoring, as well as neurophysiology physicians with special expertise in monitoring. Changes in EEG and/or evoked potentials during surgery may warn the surgeon of impending damage, and this awareness may decrease the risk of permanent neurologic damage during surgery. Facial nerve monitoring during skull base surgery, such as for acoustic neuromas, may help reduce the risk of facial paralysis.
- Language mapping - an intraoperative procedure in which the brain is directly stimulated to identify regions that are important for language. This helps the surgeon to avoid damaging these regions
- Motor strip mapping - an intraoperative procedure that helps the surgeon identify the regions of the brain responsible for motor control
