Understanding INSIGHT Scans — What They Are & Why They Matter at Mackay Spine Care
At Mackay Spine Care, we believe caring for your child’s nervous system is one of the most important things we can do. That’s why we use INSIGHT Scanning Technology, adapted from PX Docs, to give families clarity, direction, and measurable outcomes. Here’s a close look at what these scans do, how they work, and what it means for your child.
What are INSIGHT Scans?
INSIGHT Scans are a set of non-invasive, functional tests that assess how well the Central Nervous System (CNS) is working — not just what symptoms are showing. They’re designed to evaluate three key domains:
Sensory — how your child senses and perceives their internal and external environment
Autonomic — how well automatic functions (like sleep, digestion, immune system, hormonal regulation) are being handled by the body
Motor — how the brain, spinal cord and nerves coordinate movement, tone, and posture.
These scans go beyond what standard medical tests often cover, focusing on function and nervous system communication rather than just structure.
The Three Types of INSIGHT Scans
NeuroThermal Scan
Measures temperature differences along the spine. Spots inflammation, sympathetic overactivity (stress regions), and autonomic imbalance. (pxdocs.com)
Helps explain conditions like colic, reflux, sleep issues, digestive or immune challenges.
NeuroSpinal sEMG (Surface Electromyography) Scan
Captures patterns of muscle tension, tone, and neuromotor stress, including how symmetrical or imbalanced these patterns are. (pxdocs.com)
Helps us understand motor tone issues, coordination challenges, sensory or behavior problems. This is especially insightful for children with sensory processing, ADHD or anxiety-type presentations.
Heart Rate Variability (HRV) Scan
Looks at how the autonomic nervous system responds and adapts under stress vs rest. Measures variability, resilience, and whether the child is more in fight-or-flight or calm/recovery mode. (pxdocs.com)
Very useful to see how stress or dysautonomia might be affecting sleep, mood, focus, emotional regulation, energy. Tracking changes over time shows if things are improving.
INSIGHT Scans include three main components, each giving different but complementary information:
What This Means for Your Child & Family
Using INSIGHT Scans provides several advantages for your child’s health journey:
Personalised care — We can create care plans tailored to your child’s nervous system pattern, rather than generic treatments.
Early detection — Signs of nervous system stress often show up before traditional symptoms. Scans let us catch them early.
Measure progress — As your child progresses through care, we can re-scan to see how much improvement there is. This gives both you and us real feedback.
Holistic wellness — Because the nervous system affects everything (sleep, digestion, immunity, mood, learning), improvements often ripple into many areas of life.
How We Use INSIGHT Scans at Mackay Spine Care
Here’s what the process looks like in our clinic:
Book a neurological evaluation session.
Run the INSIGHT Scans: NeuroThermal, sEMG, HRV.
Review results with you — we’ll explain what we find, what it means, and how we’ll target it.
Begin a care plan: chiropractic adjustments + lifestyle supports (sleep, stress, nutrition, etc.).
Follow up with repeat scans as needed to measure changes.
Final Thoughts
INSIGHT Scans are powerful tools in understanding how your child’s nervous system is functioning — often before it becomes evident through symptoms. They allow for precise, measurable, and early interventions that support long-term health and development.
If you’re seeing sleep issues, behavior challenges, digestive concerns, delays in motor skills or speech, or just generally feel your child is more stressed than they should be, an INSIGHT Scan could be a game changer.
References
“INSiGHT Scans.” PX Docs. Updated August 20, 2025. (pxdocs.com)
PX Docs: Definitions of Subluxation and Dysautonomia. (pxdocs.com)
