ELECTROGUSTOMETER

Typical Number in Hospital: 1

Cost Bands: 2

References:

Also known as a 'taste tester' or gustometer, this device is an electrical stimulator for measuring the threshold of taste by the passage of a small d.c. current from one side of the tongue to either the tip of the tongue or another midline point on the cranium (e.g. nose). The threshold current should be approximately equal on both sides of the tongue. A significant inequality may be suggestive of a lesion affecting the fifth cranial (trigeminal) nerve. Electrogustometers are sometimes used in neurophysiology or ENT departments for differential diagnosis in Bell's palsy.