Method for quantitative estimation of thermal thresholds in patients.

A quantitative method for the examination of thermal sensibility was applied in 26 normal subjects and in patients with various neurological disorders. The stimulation technique resembled Békésy audiometry: the patient reversed the direction of the temperature change of a thermode whenever warm, cold, or thermal pain thresholds were reached. The resulting temperature curve enables a quantitative description of the subject's thermal sensibility and of the degree of impairment displayed by neurological patients.