A NEW MULTIAXIS ROTATING CHAIR FOR OCULOMOTOR AND VESTIBULAR FUNCTIONTESTING IN HUMANS

Conventional vestibular examination tests the function of the pair of horizontal semicircular canals and ignores the two pairs of vertical s emicircular canals and otoliths. For complete vestibular testing, a fo ur-axis gimbal system was constructed with two motor-driven axes and t wo axes which are manually adjustable. This apparatus allows stimulati on of all semicircular canals and also-by rotation with respect to the gravity vector of the otoliths. Positioning the subject in a light-pr oof sphere prevents visual orientation in space. Projected visual stim uli (light spot and full-field random dot pattern) complete the possib ilities for oculomotor testing. Largely avoiding the use of metal offe rs the possibility of three-dimensional eye movement recording with th e search coil method.