Abstract
Advanced electrophysiological recording techniques can assess sensory function from individual spinal segments and track the potential risks or benefits of a therapeutic intervention. Dermatomal somatosensory-evoked potentials (dSSEPs) and contact heat-evoked potentials (CHEPs) have been introduced as distinct assessment tools; when combined with other clinical sensory evaluations, these tools can provide sensitive and reliable functional measurements of spinal connectivity. dSSEPs measure innocuous tactile inputs via dorsal column pathways from individual spinal segments. Conversely, CHEPs evaluate thermal (e.g., nociceptive) inputs via spinothalamic pathways arising from each spinal segment.