Background and Identification
Nerve Integrity Monitors (NIM) are used to diagnose recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) injuries and are mainly used for thyroidectomy procedures. The recurrent laryngeal nerves control all of the intrinsic muscles in the larynx and supply power to the posterior cricoarytenoid muscles. Essentially the recurrent laryngeal nerves open the muscles that control the vocal cords and allow for speech.
In regards to usage, the nerve integrity monitor helps identify the superior laryngeal nerve during thyroid surgeries. The most widely used nerve integrity monitor is the NIM Response 3.0 System made by Medtronic.
Source: Wikipedia