Diagnostic Procedures

OHSU's Nerve Center offers a wide range of neurodiagnostic (nerve diagnosis) services to evaluate your anatomy (structure of your body) and see if your brain, spinal cord, muscles, nerves and blood flow are functioning properly.

Our goal is to offer reliable and complete testing to help diagnose, manage and track your health condition.

We use the latest diagnostic equipment to perform all of our studies. Highly trained technologists operate the equipment and are monitored by neurologists with advanced training and experience in this field.

Electromyogram (EMG or Electromyography)

With an EMG, your doctor inserts a thin needle electrode into a muscle. The electrode records your muscle's electrical activity at rest and in motion. Reduced muscle activity can indicate nerve injury.

Nerve Conduction Study

For this study, you doctor places electrodes at two different points in your body. The goal is to measure how well electrical signals pass through your nerves.

Quantitative Sudomotor Axon Reflex (Qsart)

We use Qsart to evaluate the small nerve fibers, which are linked to your sweat glands. This test measures the autonomic nerves that control sweating.

Evoked Potentials (EP)

EP records the electrical potential from your nervous system after we present a stimulus.

Polysomnography

This procedure provides a comprehensive recording of the biophysiological changes that occur while you're sleeping.

Ultrasound

We use this real time imaging to:

  • See muscles, tendons and many internal organs
  • Get images of the size and structure of muscles, tendons and organs and see any tissue damaged by disease

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

A magnetic field and radio waves produce a detailed, three-dimensional image of a nerve that may be damaged It also shows the area affected by the damage.