A common consensus on where on the palm to set the stimulation point location was lacking in median sensory nerve conduction studies. We determined the location for palmar stimulation and performed antidromic sensory nerve conduction studies. For our studies, the recording electrode was set on the palm side of the middle finger near the proximal interphalangeal joint. Stimulation was delivered at the palm, at the wrist and at the elbow. The mean value of onset latency during stimulation at the palm was 1.14 msec, 2.39 msec at the wrist and 5.98 msec at the elbow. The mean value of peak latency during stimulation at the palm was 1.66 msec, 3.00 msec at the wrist and 6.82 msec at the elbow. The mean value of amplitude during stimulation at the palm was 75.3 μV, 54.3 μV at the wrist, and 27.9 μV at the elbow. The mean value of sensory nerve conduction velocity during stimulation at the palm was 61.9 m/sec, 58.6 m/sec at the wrist, and 62.7 m/sec at the elbow. These results suggest that there is minute nerve fiber damage in the vicinity of the carpal tunnels in healthy persons.

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This article provides a brief review of novel methods to evaluate postural stability in humans. Especially, I focus on the extent to which these methods can extract richer information concerning postural stability from data obtained by measuring postural sway during quiet standing (e.g., the center of pressure trajectory) than through conventional methods, which only quantify the magnitude of postural sway. Two methods are introduced. The first is a method to quantify the time-dependent pattern of postural sway using the concept of “fractal”. That the pattern extracted from the data during quiet standing is deeply associated with both the postural response to a perturbation and with the control of center of body mass during locomotion is also shown. The second is a method to quantify the spatial pattern of postural sway. I demonstrate that there is a reciprocal relationship between the angular accelerations of the ankle and hip joints in healthy young subjects and that it collapsed in elderly persons as well as when cutaneous sensation of the foot sole is reduced.

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Special Speach: A New System for Postgraduate Clinical Training and Specialty Training of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation…Kyozo YONEMOTO 295

Correspondence as the Japanese Association of Rehabilitation Medicine…Kimitaka HASE 297

A New System of Study for Resident in Saga University Hospital…Toyoko ASAMI 303

Postgraduate Clinical Education in the Private University Hospital…Teruhito FURUICHI 308

The Postgraduate Clinical Training and Specialty Training of Rehabilitation Medicine in Seirei Mikatahara General Hospital…Ichiro FUJISHIMA, Hirotatsu TAKAHASHI 310

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[in Japanese]

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