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I have an old (approx. 15 years) biothesiometer (Bio-Medical instrument co. Newbury, Ohio) and have been wondering about its accuracy. If "25V" is suggested as an important VPT then what, exactly, does this mean?

The operating manual I have is ambiguous about this- there are lots of implied messages to suggest that the black dial is "Volts" but it doesn't explicitly say this. Is a VPT of 25V when the patient can't feel the vibration when the dial points to "25" on the black dial? (The other ambiguous thing is that on the black dial's scale there is no "V" or anything to say what it means!)

Also, when I got our biomedical engineering to tell me how many volts were actually going through the machine the dial and their testing apparatus did not match up:

(Dial value-actual voltage)
0-0.9V
10-6.4V
20-12.18V
30-18.05V
40-23.84V
50-30V

What I am really interested in is whether my biothesiometer is vibrating with the same frequency as Armstrong et al's when they used a biosthesiometer 1998 and suggested "25V" was a good predictive VPT (Choosing a practical screening instrument to identify people at high risk for diabetic foot ulceration. Archives Internal Medicine 1998;158(3):377-384).

I may be missing something here, as my knoweldge of these electronic details is zero. I am awaiting contact from the supplier but would appreciate any comments from more knowledgable people than me.

Byron

 

Byron

To the best of my knowledge the biothesiometer model you described was considered not to meet Australian standards of safety and at one time a warning not to use was issued by the DoH. That was several years ago so I am not clear on the present situation nor whether more recent models have been improved.

For what it is worth

Cameron

 

The Biothesiometer was indeed taken out of UK circulation , and has been replaced by the UK made Neurothesiometer. The neurothesiometer is calibrated for use , and can be recalibrated at the users request. Bailey Instruments distribute it and may be able to help.