--is called "quantitative sensory testing".

It can certainly be used to detect suspected small-fiber neuropathy. The small fibers subsume the sensations of pain and temperature, and abnormal results on this test point to a dysfunction of those fiber types.

The problem has been that the test had always relied both on the self-reporting of the testee and the interpretation of the tester, and these are not always reliable--there is great individual variation on both sides.

The current gold standard for detecting small-fiber damage is skin biopsy to detect reduced intraepidermal nerve fiber density and damaged/swollen fibers.