AUTOMATED EVALUATION OF NEUROLOGICAL FUNCTION

THE AUTOMATED TACTILE TESTER PERFORMS REPEATABLE, RELIABLE, AND LARGELY AUTOMATED TESTING OF TOUCH, TEMPERATURE, AND PAIN SENSATIONS FROM THE SKIN. IT IS INTENDED FOR USE AS A DIAGNOSTIC TOOL IN EVALUATING PERIPHERAL AND CENTRAL NEUROPATHIES AND FOR EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES OF SOMATIC SENSATION. THE MICROPROCESSOR-CONTROLLED DEVICE ALSO KEEPS A RECORD OF EACH PATIENT'S PERFORMANCE ON DIFFERENT TESTING SESSIONS,PROVIDING A QUANTITATIVE MEASURE OF THE PROGRESS OF DISEASE OR RECOVERY. IT PROVIDES BOTH GRAPHICAL AND TABULAR PRESENTATION OF THE DATA OBTAINED FROM INDIVIDUAL PATIENTS, FACILITATING CLINICAL INTERPRETATION OF THE DATA. DURING PHASE I, TOPICAL TESTING, INC., WILL BUILD SEVERAL COPIES OF AN IMPROVED VERSION OF THE CURRENT PROTOTYPE, HAVETHE DEVICE EVALUATED BY CLINICIANS, COLLECT NORMATIVE DATA FOR THE MODALITIES TESTED BY THE DEVICE IN NORMAL AND NEUROLOGICALLY IMPAIRED SUBJECTS, AND MODIFY THE HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE ON THE BASIS OF THE EVALUATIONS.