Vestibulo-Ocular Monitoring in Severe Head Injury -Technical Aspects-

Introduction: For assessing the extent of damaged brain substance in patients suffering from severe head injury (SHI), Vestibulo-Ocular Monitoring (VOM) was evaluated especially for the brainstem region where a lesion in the brainstem would disturb the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR). VOM is expected to induce ocular movements (OM) by applying a vestibular stimulus to the patients. The set-up described was developed and applied on the neuro-ICU to avoid disturbance of the inner ear in ruptured membrana tympani by caloric irrigation or moving a fractured spine (cervico-ocular reflex) and to have the advantage of a…