The PVD Bio-Thesiometer was tested as a tool for measuring vibratory
thresholds and for detecting possible differences in these thresholds
between adolescents who have idiopathic scoliosis and those who do not. It
was found to be limited by low reliability and large errors in measurement,
with the metatarsophalangeal joint being the only reliable site for
measurement. The vibratory thresholds at this site were significantly
higher in the fourteen subjects who had scoliosis than in the twenty-two
control subjects. No significant asymmetry in vibratory thresholds was
found between the concave and convex or the right and left sides in either
the scoliotic or the control group. Because there was no significant
difference between the readings from the concave and convex sides, it is
unlikely that a lesion of the posterior column is responsible for
idiopathic scoliosis. If there is a difference, then the PVD
Bio-Thesiometer is not sufficiently reliable to detect it.