The Use of QST to Characterize Somatosensory Functionality

Pain has a significant impact on quality of life and poses an enormous burden on the healthcare system. The subjective nature of pain complicates its mapping and treatment. Quantitative Sensory Testing (QST) aims to characterize the somatosensory phenotype using calibrated stimuli and subjective thresholds. This set of procedures enables quantification of the somatosensory function in small fibers (thinly myelinated Aδ and unmyelinated C), as well as large fibers (thickly myelinated Aβ). In this way, sensory loss (hypoesthesia, hypoalgesia) or sensory gain (hyperesthesia, hyperalgesia, allodynia) can be detected. In this study, the inter-period reproducibility of thirteen QST parameters will be determined on the dominant hand, right forearm, right flank and lower back of 20 healthy volunteers.