Sunshine Coast patients living with nerve and muscle disorders will now be diagnosed earlier following the arrival of specialised nerve hyperexcitability testing equipment to the Sunshine Coast University Hospital.
The machine was purchased by Wishlist with proceeds from last year’s Wishlist Spring Carnival.
Sunshine Coast Health director of neurology and stroke, Dr Antony Winkel, said the machine is a game changer and is already being used to help patients.
“This equipment allows us to expand our research and give local patients access to advanced testing without needing to travel to Sydney,” Dr Winkel said.
“It looks at how the nerve cells integrate with the muscles, and how excitable they are to different types of testing.
“That excitability gives us insight into whether the nerves are healthy or not, and in what way they may be unhealthy, which gives us a very early clue for some medical conditions.
“That takes people out of that limbo and allows us to start disease modifying trials earlier in the disease – all those things are giving us the best chance as we head towards a cure for motor neurone disease.”
