Time-Frequency Analysis of Electronystagmogram Signals in Patients with Congenital Nystagmus

Purpose To evaluate the usefulness of the short-time Fourier transform (STFT) in the analysis of temporal congenital nystagmus characteristics.Methods We carried out an observational case series in patients with congenital nystagmus. An electronystagmogram (ENG) recording was performed for 300s in 13 consecutive subjects with congenital nystagmus (age: 7–68 years). Digitized ENG signals (12 bits, 100Hz) were divided into 2-s segments with a Hanning window, and a Fourier transform was carried out for each segment. The power spectrum obtained for each segment was graphically reconstructed as a function of time. The results were compared among the patients.Results Clear periodicity in the time-frequency distribution was observed in 3 of the 13 patients (23%). One of the three patients was diagnosed with periodic alternating nystagmus, but the other two patients showed periodicity without alternation of beat direction. No significant difference was observed in clinical characteristics, except for sex, between patients who showed periodicity and those who did not.Conclusions Some patients with congenital nystagmus showed clear periodicity in the nystagmus waveform without alternation of beat direction. The STFT is a useful tool to evaluate the temporal characteristics of congenital nystagmus in clinics. Jpn J Ophthalmol 2004;48:262–267 © Japanese Ophthalmological Society 2004An erratum to this article can be found at