This manual, as the authors state, is intended for instruction of students, house staff, and graduate fellows in the practical elements of electrodiagnostic and electroneuromyographic procedures. The first half is devoted to a general description of equipment, nerve-conduction studies, needle-electrode studies and electrodiagnosis (such as chronaxy and strength-duration curves). The remaining half of the manual then takes up case reports.
In describing the nerve-conduction studies, the authors illustrate a cumbersome technique for recording time intervals measured directly from the polaroid photograph with calipers. Almost all of the presentday electromyographic equipment incorporates digital counters which permit a direct readout of the time interval, obviating the need for measuring off the photograph. Indeed, one of the dilemmas in preparing a manual for print in a field such as electromyography is the constant change and improvement of instrumentation.
Though the bibliography at the end of the chapter on nerve-conduction studies is abundant, there