GLOSSARY
| Computerised Dynamic Posturography | Click here to find out more |
| Oculomotor | the third pair of cranial nerves. They innervate four of the extrinsic muscles which move the eye and the muscle which raises the upper eyelid. They also control pupil size and change the shape of the lens |
| Fixation blocked testing | Monitioring of eye movement in relation to the workings of the inner ear |
| Cervical | pertaining to the neck |
| Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) | Dizziness thought to be caused due to debris which has collected within a part of the inner ear |
| Vestibule/Vestibular | Part of the bony labyrinth of the inner ear, laying between the semicircular canals and the cochlea |
| Vertigo | giddiness, dizziness; a subjective sense of imbalance, often rotary |
| Nystagmus | involuntary and rhythmic oscillatory movements of the eyeball. May be caused by neurological disorders, vestibular apparatus problems, or a side-effect of some drugs |
| Otoconia | small crystals of calcium carbonate in the saccule and utricle of the ear that under the influence of acceleration in a straight line cause stimulation of the hair cells by their movement relative to the gelatinous supporting substrate containing the embedded cilia of the hair cells—called also statoconia * |
| Oscillopsia | a visual disturbance in which objects appear to oscillate* |
| Somatosensory | of, relating to, or being sensory activity having its origin elsewhere than in the special sense organs (as eyes and ears) and conveying information about the state of the body proper and its immediate environment* |
| Tinnitus | a buzzing, thumping, roaring or ringing sound in the ears. Occurs in Meniere's disease and otosclerosis |
| Sensorineural hearing loss | of, relating to, or involving the aspects of sense perception mediated by nerves * |
| Cerebellum | part of the brain situated behind and below the cerebrum. It is concerned witth coordination of fine voluntary movements and the control of posture |
| Brainstem | lowest part of the brain consisting of the midbrain, pons varolii and medulla oblongata. Controls vital automatic functions, such as respiratory rate etc |
| Saccule | A fluid filled sac in the internal ear. Part of the vestibular appartus, it contains the hair cells and otoliths |
| Semicircular Canals | three fluid-filled canals contained within the bony labyrinth of the internal ear. |
| Otoliths | tiny calcium deposits associated with saccule and utricle of the internal ear |
| Cochlea | a spiral fluid-filled canal resembling a snail shell, in the anterior part of the bony labyrinth of the ear |
| Conductive hearing loss | caused by failure in the mechanisms for sound transmission in the external or middle ear* |
References:
Online Medical Dictionary www.merriam-webster.com 2010
19th Edition of Churchill Livingstone’s Dictionary of Nursing
Edited by Chris Brooker
Copyright Elsevier Limited, 2006
19th Edition of Churchill Livingstone’s Dictionary of Nursing
Edited by Chris Brooker
Copyright Elsevier Limited, 2006