Nerve Conduction Study (NCV)
A focused scan for Nerve conduction, Neuropathy, Muscle response.
Overview
Examines Nerve conduction, Neuropathy, Muscle response. Performed at an NABL-accredited Meridian Health centre with a same-day report and a free doctor review.
The full panel
3 areas across 1 groupEvery parameter, grouped by body system — no clicking to expand.
What this scan measures
How fast and how strongly your nerves carry signals. Small electrical pulses are delivered over a nerve and surface electrodes record the response further along, measuring conduction velocity, latency and amplitude for both motor and sensory nerves. A needle electromyography study is sometimes added to assess the muscles themselves.
It is the test that localises a nerve problem and describes its type. It distinguishes a compressed nerve at a single point — carpal tunnel syndrome at the wrist, ulnar neuropathy at the elbow — from a generalised peripheral neuropathy, and separates damage to the nerve fibre itself from damage to its myelin sheath, which points to entirely different causes.
Symptoms that lead to this scan
- Numbness, tingling or pins and needles in the hands or feet
- Night-time hand pain or numbness that wakes you
- Weakness or wasting of a muscle group
- Burning feet, often with diabetes
- Weakness after an injury to a limb
Understanding your results
Results are graded by severity — mild, moderate or severe — and this often guides whether a splint and treatment of the underlying cause are enough or whether surgical decompression is considered. A pattern affecting mainly the sensory nerves of both feet is the picture most commonly seen in diabetic and metabolic neuropathies, and prompts a search for the cause rather than being an endpoint. Very early or purely small-fibre neuropathy can produce a normal study despite genuine symptoms, so a normal result is interpreted alongside the clinical examination.
Why the preparation matters
Wash the limbs and use no lotion, oil or cream on the day — an oily skin surface raises electrical resistance and both distorts the readings and makes the pulses feel sharper than they need to. Keep your hands and feet warm and arrive early enough to warm up if it is cold: cool limbs slow nerve conduction and can produce a falsely abnormal result, so the technician will measure and correct skin temperature. Mention a pacemaker, defibrillator or any implanted stimulator, and any blood-thinning medication if needle EMG is planned.
Neuro — safety and who should not be scanned
Full Neuro guideNo ionising radiation and no magnetic field. An EEG only records what your brain is already producing, and a nerve conduction study delivers pulses far below any level that could injure a nerve. There is nothing to recover from and no restriction afterwards. Two specific points are worth knowing. The flashing light used during an EEG can provoke a seizure in the small number of people with photosensitive epilepsy — that is a recognised, deliberately supervised part of the test, done with staff present who stop it immediately, and you should say beforehand if flashing lights have ever triggered an episode. And where the neurological workup includes an MRI, the whole of the MRI safety set applies to that scan, not to the electrical tests.
- Implants and metal, where the workup includes an MRI
- An EEG or nerve conduction study has no magnet, but a brain or spine MRI ordered alongside it does — and the magnet is always on. A cardiac pacemaker or defibrillator, any implanted electronic device, a ferromagnetic aneurysm clip or coil, a cochlear implant, a neurostimulator, a programmable shunt valve or a metallic foreign body in the eye must all be declared before that scan is booked. Bring the device card. The full screening list is on the MRI page and it is not a formality.
- Claustrophobia, or an inability to lie still
- This applies to the MRI part of a neurological workup rather than to the electrical tests, where you sit or lie on an open couch. Say so in advance: a wide-bore scanner, a different position, music, a companion in the room or medication arranged with your doctor all work better than an abandoned scan.
- Children, and sedation
- A young child who cannot stay still for an MRI, or cooperate with an EEG, may need sedation or a general anaesthetic, or a sleep-deprived protocol timed around a nap. That is arranged in advance with a paediatrician or anaesthetist, and the fasting instructions given for it must be followed exactly. Never plan a sedated study on the day.
- Implanted electrical devices, for a nerve conduction study
- Pacemakers, defibrillators and implanted stimulators need declaring before a nerve conduction study so that stimulation is kept away from the device and its leads and the study is done under the appropriate protocol. External cardiac pacing wires and indwelling central lines matter for the same reason. This is a matter of how the test is performed, not usually a reason to refuse it.
- Blood thinners, if a needle muscle study is planned
- A needle EMG puts a fine electrode into muscle, so warfarin, the newer oral anticoagulants, aspirin, other antiplatelet drugs, a known bleeding disorder or a low platelet count all need declaring in advance. Do not stop any of them yourself — the neurologist decides, and often the study goes ahead unchanged.
- Preparation that decides whether the test works at all
- For an EEG, come with clean, dry hair and no oil, gel, serum or spray — electrodes cannot make electrical contact through a product film, and the appointment is wasted. Recent scalp surgery, an open wound or an active scalp infection should be mentioned before booking. For a nerve conduction study, skip moisturiser and lotion on the arms and legs that day and keep the limbs warm on the way in, because cold skin genuinely slows conduction and can make a healthy nerve look abnormal. And never stop anti-epileptic medication before an EEG unless the neurologist who requested it has specifically told you to.
Who should consider this scan
- Anyone with numbness, tingling or burning in the hands or feet
- People with suspected carpal tunnel syndrome
- Patients with diabetes and sensory symptoms
- Anyone with unexplained muscle weakness or wasting
- People with nerve symptoms after trauma or surgery
Conditions it helps detect
How it works
Patient stories
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