Harvard Doctors Study Noninvasive EMG Technique

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Harvard Doctors Study Noninvasive EMG Technique

from Quest Magazine, Vol. 11, No. 6 November/December 2004

http://www.mdausa.org/publications/Quest/q116resup.cfm#EMG_Harvard

The EMG, or electromyogram, remains a mainstay of diagnosis in many

neuromuscular disorders. But the technique, which uses needle electrodes

to measure electricity-like signals coming from inside muscles, is

painful and distressing.

Now, doctors at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston

(affiliated with Harvard University) are developing a technique called

electrical impedance myography, or EIM. They say the technique isn’t

painful or invasive but provides information similar to that gleaned

from an EMG.

The study is supported by the National Institutes of Health and the

Harvard Center for Neurodegeneration and Repair.

The researchers are seeking people 18 or older who have any nerve or

muscle disorder that causes weakness and who meet other study criteria.

Participants must visit the Boston center every three to six months for

about four years.

Financial compensation is offered. For more information, contact

physicians Seward Rutkove or Esper at (617) 667-3083 or

eimstudy@....