GUSTOMETER

Typical Number in Hospital: 1

Cost Bands: 1,2

References:

Also known as a taste tester or electrogustometer, this device is a direct current electrical stimulator for measuring the threshold of taste by passing 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. the nose). The threshold current should be approximately equal on each side of the tongue. A significant inequality may be suggestive of a lesion affecting the fifth cranial (trigeminal) nerve. Gustometers are sometimes used in the neurophysiology or ENT departments for differential diagnosis of Bell's palsy.