Part I Evoked potentials are a type of objective and noninvasive electrodiagnostic testing that are used by both medical and chiropractic doctors. An upper limit of 8-10 milliseconds from right to left is within normal limits. BAEPs examine the integrity of the auditory sensory conduction pathways by placing headphones on the patient and stimulating the patient with a series of audible clicks.
Electrodes then record the cortical activity.
Five waveforms are analyzed for their latency, and these are labeled Wave 1 through Wave 5. SEPs measure peripheral sensory nerve function, nerve root function, dermatomal integrity, central conduction pathways, and thalamocortical function. A peripheral mixed or sensory nerve, or dermatomal region is stimulated many times and then averaged to eliminate electrical noise. Electrical waveforms are measured and picked up at different proximal locations with special surface electrodes and are recorded for absolute peak latency, amplitude, and interpeak latencies. Peak latency is the time measured from stimulus onset to the point of maximum amplitude of a negative or positive peak.