New research published recently in Concussion provides new data supporting eye tracking as a methodology to help sports medicine doctors and primary doctors better identify and measure the severity of traumatic brain injuries.
The study, “Horizontal and vertical self-paced saccades as a diagnostic marker of traumatic brain injury,” was published online July 25, 2019. Authors were: Melissa Hunfalvay, Claire-Marie Roberts, Nick Murray, Ankur Tyagi, Hannah Kelly and Takumi Bolte.
Today’s traumatic brain injury screening protocols still have a lot of limitations to them. The traditional method of asking the patient to follow your finger is based on observation not quantifiable data.
Eye tracking technology records the movement of the eye several times per second, which provides more precise data, say the researchers of the study. It identifies even small changes in eye movement which then help to distinguish between different levels of concussion severity.
The study enrolled 287 patients from various eye health clinics in the U.S. The research team then quantified the differences in horizontal and vertical saccades between people with no history of traumatic brain injuries and patients with traumatic brain injuries. The horizontal and vertical saccade tests were conducted using an eye-tracking technology from Maryland-based Righteye, LLC.
The research team reported that they had collected data from 64 patients with mild traumatic brain injury, 57 moderate traumatic brain injury and 23 severe traumatic brain injury cases. The cases were also verified by a board-certified neurologist or neuro-optometrist. The team found that horizontal saccades tests offered a sensitivity of 0.77 and a specificity of 0.78, while the vertical saccades tests offered a sensitivity of 0.64 and a specificity of 0.65.
“Concussions are a significant international public health concern, yet the methods currently used for its detection are manual and subjective,” said Melissa Hunfalvay, Ph.D., co-founder and chief science officer for RightEye, LLC, and a co-author of the study.
“This study demonstrates that digital eye tracking tests, such as RightEye’s Brain Health EyeQ, are capable of providing doctors with the data they need to quickly and precisely uncover abnormal eye movement behavior that can be associated with concussions of varying severity.”
This technology can also be used to create more precise treatment programs and provide a more accurate and therefore safer determination of when the patient can return to normal activities after the concussion.
“I recommend baseline eye tracking screenings for everyone, especially children,” said Tanya Polec, OD, FCOVD, Sports Medicine Rehabilitation and Concussion Center (SPARCC) and VQ Learning Sports Rehab, Tucson, Arizona.
“The reality is that a traumatic brain injury can result from a car accident, playing sports, or a playground fall. All too often, these ‘stealth concussions’ go undiagnosed and untreated, with severely negative consequences that affect adults’ ability to perform routine tasks and kids’ ability to learn and function in school.”
“Concussions remain one of the most difficult neurological issues to detect and accurately diagnose,” said Mark Baron, M.D., neurologist at the Virginia Commonwealth University Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Center and deputy director of the Southeast Veterans Affairs Parkinson’s and Movement Disorders Center (PADDREC) in Richmond, Virginia.
“Sadly, a significant percent of patients who have sustained a mild injury go undiagnosed. Having a tool that allows doctors to quickly and objectively analyze the neurological health of people could help uncover countless hidden concussions and empower doctors to create tailored treatment plans in line with the severity of the injury. Critically, having rapid access to quantifiable eye-tracking data about the neurological health of people will allow doctors to precisely monitor treatment progress and confidently approve individuals to return to their normal activities.”
