What is the difference between EMG and NCV?
EMG and NCV are diagnostic tests that test electrical pulses in the body. Usually the doctor performs both together. EMG most often includes needles and NCV. EMG tests the health of muscles and related nerves, while NCV is looking for problems only with nerves.
Electromyography is the technical name of the EMG test. In healthy people, electrical impulses control muscle. NCV, on the other hand, means nervous speed of line. This test checks that the nerves can respond correctly to stimuli.
EMG and NCV procedures share some similarities. Both require the doctor to place the electrodes in the tested area of the body. However, when testing EMG, the electrode of the needle is often a needle and the doctor must put it directly into the muscle through the skin.
The NCV test on the other hand only requires a doctor to cause patches on the skin that produce electrical pulses. Some EMG tests can use a skin patch instead of a needle. Electrodes, whether in the form of needles or patch, produce a small electrical pulse that affects muscles or nervesDuring EMG and NCV tests.
Usually, electrical activity in healthy people is not present at a high level during EMG when the patient releases muscles. If there are health problems such as inflammation or damage to the nerves that normally produce electrical stimuli for muscles, then abnormal electrical activity may occur when the EMG is read. Guillain-Barre syndrome, myasthenia gravis syndrome and the carpal tunnel syndrome are just some of the conditions that EMG analysis can identify.
NCV testing works in a different way to test EMG, because the doctor does not seek the presence of abnormal pulses, but rather the speed with which the electrode pulse moves through the nerve. For this reason, the NCV test always requires an electrode that produces an impulse, and another electrode at the opposite end of the nerve that detects the pulse. Slow impulses indicate nerve damage. NCV test results may be part of DiagMisses for many conditions that affect the nerves of the body such as amyloidoisis, dipteria and trauma.
Doctors usually perform both EMG and NCV tests together. This is because normal NCV tests can eliminate nerve problems as the cause of muscle problems. These two tests can also help physicians assess the extent of the damage that the disease caused to patients.