Ooook, so it's been about a month since I even looked at this blog. Been a busy month for us around here, trying to get us both through school and into the summer and figuring out how to get to go see my sister and my soon-to-be-here-nephew, Ethan.
This month Ben also had an electroretinography. I know...what? Electroretinography measures the electrical responses of various cell types in the retina, including the photoreceptors (rods and cones), inner retinal cells (bipolar and amacrine cells), and the ganglion cells. Electrodes are usually placed on the corneaeye, although it is possible to record the ERG from skin electrodes. During a recording, the patient's eyes are exposed to standardized stimuli and the resulting signal is displayed showing the time course of the signal's amplitude (voltage). Signals are very small, and typically are measured in microvolts or nanovolts. The ERG is composed of electrical potentials contributed by different cell types within the retina, and the stimulus conditions (flash or pattern stimulus, whether a background light is present, and the colors of the stimulus and background) can elicit stronger response from certain components.
Again,...what? Essentially, to check to see if he had retinal dystrophy. It turns out, however, that he has issues with the cones and rods in his eyes, they just don't work correctly causing his eyes to jerk back and forth (this jerking is called a nystagmus). The good news about this is that his nystagmus mystery has been solved, he's had countless MRI's, CT scans, EEG's and other tests to ensure it wasn't a problem with his brain (i.e., a tumor or growth). I won't have a lot of information about what the problem IS until we visit his ophthalmologist.
Next hurdle is "to hold back or not to hold back". Wish me luck with that one. :)
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