Eyes — windows to the soul, according to Shakespeare and da Vinci — can also indicate brain disorders or brain injury, according to University of Houston researchers, who have developed new wearable sensors to study eye movements.
In a Sept. 16 news announcement, researchers said eyes “are also an extension of the brain and can provide early warning signs of brain-related disorders and information on what causes them. Examining the eyes can also help track the progression and symptoms of physical and mental shocks to the brain.”
Eye-blinking patterns, the University of Houston research team said, have been used to diagnose stroke, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease, among other conditions.
“Ocular movements are strongly linked to various brain disorders, as eyeball and upper-eyelid controls are affected by brain function,” the announcement noted.
Researchers added that existing eye-tracking systems “deliver insufficient amounts of data” and are also bulky, expensive, have weak outputs and require multiple electrodes to be placed on the face and neck. A new system from University of Houston “is noninvasive, comfortably wearable, and safe, enabling easy and continuous measurements and monitoring of eyeball movements when combined with a handheld display and computing device.”
The new system was developed by University of Houston Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Jae-Hyun Ryou, assisted by Nam-In Kim, a post-doctoral researcher.
The sensors, described as “sleek and flexible,” are made of a very thin, crystal-like film “that generates electricity when it bends or moves” — an effect known as piezoelectricity.
“Thin-film piezoelectric sensors offer unique advantages of easy fabrication at low cost; a wide range of available sizes; lightweight, excellent mechanical flexibility and stability; rapid reaction rate; high sensitivity; high signal-to-noise ratio; and excellent long-term stability and durability,” Ryou said in the announcement.
“The new sensors are easy to wear and can be used in brain-eye relationship studies to evaluate the brain’s functional integrity.”
Image courtesy the University of Houston
