Neurodiagnostic Week – April 21-27, 2024

History of Neurodiagnostic Week

Neurodiagnostics could be a difficult term to pronounce, and an even tougher concept to grasp when you come across it for the first time. That is why we are using Neurodiagnostic Week as an opportunity to tell you all you need to know about this unfamiliar, yet very important, medical topic. Neurodiagnosis is the study of electrical activity in the brain and nervous system, this includes the central and peripheral systems. This discipline has a lengthy history, and the profession has come a long way over the decades.

It all started in 1929 with the development of the first neurodiagnostic test, the electroencephalogram (E.E.G.). This test records the ongoing electrical activity of the brain and was set up by Hans Berger, a German psychiatrist. E.E.G. findings were used in diagnosing conditions like epilepsy, coma, and other neurological symptoms in children, and by the 1950s it was being used in major medical centers and also in private practice. This was the first step in the neurodiagnostic profession. After the breakthrough and popularity of the technology, like minds came together to form the first E.E.G. societies, the American Clinical Neurophysiology Society (A.C.N.S.) and the American Electroencephalographic Society (A.E.E.G.S.), which also became the foundation through which the American Society of Electroencephalographic Technologists (ASET) was founded.

Later in the century, evoked potential (E.P.) technologies entered the scene and were used to diagnose conditions like multiple sclerosis and other brain stem functionalities. Since then, there have been several technological advancements in the field, with the creation of technologies such as intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (I.O.N.M.), polysomnography (P.S.G.), and nerve conduction studies (N.C.S.). Neurodiagnostic Week was established by ASET to raise awareness about neurodiagnostic technologies and the profession.