Multifocal visual evoked potentials (mfVEP) and their applications

Multifocal visual evoked potentials (mfVEP) is a technology that incorporates the multifocal technique invented by EE Sutter, a theoretical physicist, to obtain many visual evoked potentials (VEPs) at different visual locations simultaneously, or the local VEP(s) obtained by the technology. While tens of local VEPs can be recorded within several minutes, the large inter-sector dispersion in amplitudes and the enormous inter-subject variability were once thought to limit its clinical use. However, mfVEP gradually came to be recognized as a genuine expression of anatomy and physiology of the human visual system and did indeed provide novel findings. Here, I describe researches and discoveries that made mfVEP grow into a practicable, objective perimetry and a useful clinical examination that can replace the conventional pattern VEP.