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Updated: Apr 6, 2026

Dynamic Quantitative Sensory Testing to Characterize Central Pain Processing
Published on: February 16, 2017
Individually based measurement of temporal summation evoked by a noxious tonic heat paradigm
Erica Suzan1, Joshua Aviram2, Roi Treister3
1Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel ; Institute of Pain Medicine, Rambam Health Care Campus, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
Background:
A model for measuring temporal summation (TS) by tonic noxious stimulation was recently proposed. However, methodological variations between studies make it difficult to reach a consensus regarding the way TS should be applied and calculated. The present study aimed to present a calculation method of TS magnitude produced by a tonic heat model in a large cohort of healthy subjects.
Methods:
Noxious heat stimulation (46.5°C/2 minutes) was applied to the forearm of 154 subjects who continuously rated pain intensity using a computerized visual analog scale. TS was calculated by "mean group" and "individual" approaches.
Results:
A "typical" pattern of pain response, characterized by a peak pain followed by a decrease in intensity to a nadir and subsequently a progressive increase in pain scores, was exhibited by 86.4% of the subjects. Using the "mean group" and "individual" calculation approaches, the mean ± standard deviation magnitudes of TS were 31.4±27.5 and 41.0±26.0, respectively (P<0.001). Additionally, using the individualized approach, we identified a different ("atypical") response pattern among the rest of the subjects (13.6%).
Conclusion:
The results support the tonic heat model of TS for future utilization. The individualized TS calculation method seems advantageous since it better reflects individual magnitudes of TS.
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