Thermal Sensory Analysis (TSA) testing may also be known as
Quantitative Sensory Testing (QST)

Disorders are common in clinical medicine. For, instance, disorders of visual and auditory senses lead to well known disabilities, and proper tools have been developed and used for years to diagnose and monitor function of these senses. On the other hand, the SOMATOSENSORY SYSTEM poses a more complex challenge with the respect to diagnosis and evaluating the effectiveness of therapy. This is due to the variety of DIFFERENT type of nerve fibers present in the peripheral and central nervous system, a portion of which are not assessed through "Electrodiagnostic techniques" such as EMG and nerve conduction testing (NCV), both of which unlike the (TSA) require needles and are sometimes painful tests. TSA can assist in the early diagnosis of diabetic neuropathy, often prior to clinical findings or symptoms. The effectiveness of treatment for your neuropathy can be more effectively evaluated and followed.

THERMAL TESTING allows the clinican to test small caliber C-fiber and A-Delta nerve fibers. In this widely accepted technique, thresholds for warmth, cold, heat induced pain and cold-induced pain are quantitatively measured and then compared to a reference value, such as age-matched normal population values. A deviation from the normal range can indicate the existence of peripheral nerve disease. (NEUROPATHY).

A small device called a thermode is attached to the patient's skin. The device is capable of heating and cooling the skin as needed. The most widely used test is called LIMITS which consists of four levels of testing:

1. cool sensation
2. warm sensation
3. cold tolerance
4. hot tolerance

The test takes approximately 45-60 minutes depending on the number of sites being tested.