Clinical consistency of vibration sense testing: development of a manikin great toe with embedded accelerometer for testing and training

I Horsfield, Andrew Levy

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

Abstract

Diabetes is the most common cause of peripheral nerve damage and vibration perception is the first sensory modality affected. A standard tuning fork remains the most widely used tool for assessing vibration perception in clinical practice, however inter-operator differences in the use of this tool vary widely. The authors developed a toe manikin capable of reporting the waveform and intensity of vibration imparted to its surface. Using the manikin, the consistency of vibration applied by a group of doctors using a standard 128-Hz tuning fork, with that delivered by the same operator using VibraTip® (McCallan Medical), were compared. Despite differences in technique, the waveform generated with VibraTip was more consistent than that of the tuning fork. With both devices, however, there was considerable intra-operator variability in recorded amplitude and frequency of vibration. By providing instant feedback, the manikin toe serves as a useful training device to encourage consistency of vibration sense testing.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)56-63
JournalDiabetic Foot Journal
Volume17
Issue number2
Publication statusPublished - 2014

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