The oVEMP technique is an accepted standard for testing otolith function in vestibular patients. It represents a quick, simple and non-invasive technique utilizing repetitive stimulation of the otolith organs with bone-conducted vibration to elicit an extraocular muscle response. Repetitive oVEMP stimulation leads to a characteristic decrement in patients with myasthenia, which can be quantified with surface electromyography from the inferior oblique muscle underneath the eye.

oVEMP have been established as a standard clinical test of otolith function. Based on this technique, repetitive oVEMP stimulation, as a novel method for detecting ocular myasthenia gravis, was recently developed. Using this method, a response decrement in extraocular muscles can be quantified. The method is based on the conventional oVEMP montage with surface electrodes placed below the eyes. In order to elicit a response decrement, trains of ten bone-conducted vibration bursts at repetition rates of 20Hz will be applied with a hand-held 'minishaker' to the forehead. The oVEMP in response to these repetitive vibration stimuli will be measured in sustained upgaze from both inferior oblique muscles via surface electrodes. The magnitude of the decrement will be calculated as the difference between the amplitude of the second stimulus repetition and the mean amplitude of the fifth to ninth stimulus repetition. For further Information see: Valko et al. 2016 PMID:26791146