● Functional Medicine · SudoScan
Sudoscan:
a window into nerve health.
Sudoscan results correlate significantly with clinical measures of neuropathy, somatic and autonomic function testing, and pain scores. It’s a sensitive tool to detect neuropathy in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM), often before symptoms ever appear.
3 or 6 minutes
Two test length options, both quick and easy to complete.
No prep required
No blood draw or fasting needed before the test.
Non-invasive
Results are immediate, with findings available within minutes.
80% / 95%
Operates with 80% sensitivity and 95% specificity.
● What Sudoscan Measures
Small nerve fibers, caught early.
The Sudoscan system helps clinicians with peripheral neuropathy and sudomotor function evaluation. The assessment focuses on tiny nerve fibers within the autonomic nervous system, and their ability to quickly regenerate.
Small nerve fibers are among the first affected by diabetes, which impacts the peripheral nervous system even while symptoms remain sub-clinical. Research shows that, already at an early stage of diabetes, the sympathetic innervation of sweat gland density and function is progressively reduced.
Sudoscan also helps determine cardiometabolic risk in patients, giving clinicians another data point beyond the neuropathy assessment itself.
● How The Test Is Done
A simple scan, no needles involved.
Sudoscan was created to enable a precise evaluation of sweat gland function. Patients place their hands and feet on stainless-steel electrodes, which use low voltage to stimulate the sweat glands and measure the electrochemical reaction between the electrodes and chloride ions. This method provides evidence of sweat gland dysfunction that might otherwise go undetected under normal physiological conditions.
The Sudoscan system is a sympathetic skin response device that displays skin conductance measurements on a computer screen, similar in concept to a galvanic skin response stress test. It measures the sweat glands’ capacity to release chloride ions following an electrochemical stimulation, by measuring the electrical potential difference caused by that reaction.
Analytical Overview
The Science Behind It
Small unmyelinated C-fibers are responsible for the function of sweat glands
Sudomotor dysfunction is one of the earliest detectable neurophysiologic abnormalities in distal small fiber neuropathies
A quantitative assessment of sweat response indexes the severity and distribution of autonomic failure, and can also serve as an early indicator of small fiber regeneration
Diabetic patients have been observed to experience degeneration of the small C fibers that innervate sweat glands
Bioelectrochemical sweat skin conductance (BEC) reflects the glands’ capability to transfer chloride ions, and directly reflects small C-fiber status
Advantages
Why It's Worth Doing
No patient preparation required, such as blood drawing or fasting
Non-invasive, with immediate results available within minutes
Developed for general practitioners, cardiologists, and neurologists to screen cardiometabolic risk
Useful for evaluating patients with diabetes mellitus for autonomic neuropathy and neuropathic pain
Results correlate significantly with clinical neuropathy scores, pain scores, and measures of autonomic dysfunction
● Begin your protocol
Catch it early. Act with confidence.
Ask about Sudoscan testing at your next visit, or book a consultation to see if it’s right for you.
Results vary. Eligibility for any program or treatment is determined by a licensed medical provider. Programs are designed for long-term health, not just quick fixes.