Flicker test
The flicker test (or flack test) is, on the one hand, a military-medical screening test for pilots of combat aircraft who are threatened with loss of consciousness at high accelerations , and on the other hand, a sports medicine test to test the suitability for (sport) diving . The flicker test is similar to the Valsalva test and is intended to test the physiological reactions and reflexes of the vegetative nervous system of a test person to changed pressure conditions in the large and small circuit .
After a physical examination, the candidate is asked, after taking a deep breath, to blow as long as possible into a manometer or a converted sphygmomanometer according to Riva-Rocchi and to maintain a pressure of 40 mm Hg while keeping the nose closed. For people under 16 years of age, the period is reduced to 30 seconds. The pulse rate is noted and the filling pressure in the carotid arteries is checked. An ECG recording accompanies the test. Attention is paid to the P wave and the ST segment.
A similar maneuver is as pressing breathing (anti-G straining method) used by pilots to the additionally pressure suits (also dragonfly ) before the dangerous fainting (G-LOC, loss of consciousness) at high accelerations to protect.
The flicker test was originally developed as a military-medical test procedure for parachutists and goes back to the English physiologist Martin Flack (1882-1931).
Web link
- E. Bertrand, D. Le Gallais, R. N'Dori: [The Flack test: a test exploring the sinus function in athletes. Speaking of 351 tests]. In: Archives des maladies du coeur et des vaisseaux. Volume 80, Number 10, September 1987, pp. 1533-1539, ISSN 0003-9683 . PMID 2449872 .
Individual evidence
- ^ J. Ernsting: Unconsciousness in flight and its prevention. In: Trans Med Soc Lond. 107, 1990-1991, pp. 12-20. PMID 1983800