Measurement of spontaneous blinks in patients with Parkinson's disease using a new high-speed blink analysis system

Eye tracking assessment of Parkinson's disease: a clinical retrospective analysis

Parkinson's disease (PD) presents a significant clinical challenge due to its profound motor and cognitive impacts. Early diagnosis is crucial for implementing effective, stage-based treatment strategies. Recently, eye-tracking technology has emerged as a promising tool for the non-invasive diagnosis and monitoring of various neurological disorders, including PD. This retrospective study analyzed eye-tracking parameters, specifically visually-guided saccades (VGS), in PD patients within a clinical setting. We reviewed eye-tracking data from 62 PD patients, focusing on eye movement performance in horizontal and vertical VGS tasks. Our findings revealed significant correlations between demographic profiles, Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores, pattern recognition, and spatial working memory tests with saccadic performance in PD patients. Despite the retrospective nature of the study, our results support the potential of eye-tracking technology as a valuable diagnostic tool in PD assessment and monitoring. Future research should prioritize longitudinal studies and more comprehensive assessments to further understand and enhance the clinical application of eye-tracking in PD.

Blink rate during saccadic eye movements: insights from patients with chronic pain

Chronic pain (CP) significantly impacts quality of life and poses an increasing economic burden on healthcare systems worldwide. This study investigates the relationship between blink rate during saccadic eye movements and pain perception in patients with CP. Ninety-two patients with CP (24 men, 68 women) were assessed using eye-tracking technology during horizontal and vertical saccadic tasks. Pain perception was evaluated using the Central Sensitization Inventory - Part A and the McGill Pain Questionnaire, and anxiety levels were measured using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. The results revealed a significant correlation between blink rates in horizontal and vertical tasks (ρ = 0.668, P < 0.001). However, there was no correlation between blink rate and age, pain perception, or anxiety scores. Conversely, measures of pain perception were positively correlated with each other and with anxiety scores. These findings suggest that while blink rate may reflect oculomotor function, it is not directly influenced by pain perception or anxiety in patients with CP. The present study highlights the potential of eye tracking for the comprehensive assessment and management of patients with CP.

Video-based eye blink identification and classification

Blink detection and classification can provide a very useful clinical indicator, because of its relation with many neurological and ophthalmological conditions. In this work, we propose a system that automatically detects and classifies blinks as "complete" or "incomplete" in high resolution image sequences zoomed into the participants' face, acquired during clinical examination using near-Infrared illumination. This method utilizes state-of-the-art (DeepLabv3+) deep learning encoder-decoder neural architecture-DLED to segment iris and eyelid in both eyes in the acquired images. The sequence of the segmented frames is post-processed to calculate the distance between the eyelids of each eye (palpebral fissure height) and the corresponding iris diameter. Theses quantities are temporally filtered and their fraction is subject to adaptive thresholding to identify blinks and determine their type, independently for each eye. The proposed system was tested on 15 participants, each with one video of 4 to 10 minutes. Several metrics of blink detection and classification accuracy were calculated against the ground truth, which was generated by three (3) independent experts, whose conflicts were resolved by a senior expert. Results show that the proposed system achieved F1-score 95.3% and 80.9% for the classification of complete and incomplete blinks respectively, collectively for all 15 participants, outperforming all 3 experts. The proposed system was proven robust in handling unexpected participant movements and actions, as well as glare and reflections from the spectacles, or face obstruction by facemasks.

Blinking kinematics characterization during digital displays use

Purpose

This study aimed to assess the differences in blinking kinematics while reading on different digital displays and a control condition.

Methods

Thirty-two young healthy individuals were included in this prospective clinical study. The blinks of subjects were recorded for 150 s while reading on a laptop computer, tablet, e-reader, and smartphone and a control condition. Blinks were recorded using an eye-tracking device and were analyzed by means of image analysis to obtain a non-invasive detailed description of the blink movement.

Results

Blink rate decreased when reading on all displays compared to the control (p < 0.0005), although no differences were obtained amongst displays (p > 0.05). The percentage of incomplete blinks was higher with the computer compared to the control (p = 0.043), and lower with the smartphone compared to the rest of the conditions (p ≤ 0.015). Blink amplitude was smaller when reading from handheld devices compared to the control (p < 0.0005) and the computer (p ≤ 0.048). Closing and opening blink durations remained unvaried amongst conditions (p > 0.05), while opening and closing speeds were greater for the control and the computer compared to the handheld displays (p < 0.0005). Finally, contact and total blink durations were shorter during computer reading compared to the control (p = 0.004 and p = 0.017, respectively).

Conclusion

Blinking kinematics vary considerably amongst displays and with respect to baseline, with these differences being probably attributed to differences in the way the displays are set up and the cognitive demand of the task.

Comparative Blink Analysis in Patients With Established Facial Paralysis Using High-Speed Video Analysis

ABSTRACT

This study analyzed the blink characteristics of patients with incomplete and complete facial paralysis. The authors measured and compared the palpebral distance, eyelid movement distance, and the eye-closing ratio of blinks in 55 patients with Bell's palsy or Ramsay Hunt syndrome (Bell & Hunt group) and 14 with complete paralysis (Complete Paralysis group). In the Bell & Hunt group, the palpebral distance (7.94 mm) was smaller on the paralyzed side than on the non-paralyzed side (9.61 mm). The eye-closing ratio and the upper eyelid movement were reduced on the paralyzed side (65.3% versus 93.7%, 4.61 versus 7.97 mm) and in the Complete Paralysis group (25.3% versus 94.7%, 2.10 versus 8.49 mm). In the Bell & Hunt group, movement of the upper eyelid on the paralyzed side was weakened despite palpebral contracture. The Complete Paralysis group exhibited highly reduced movement in both the upper and lower eyelids.

Clinical Factors for Determining the Severity of Lid Wiper Epitheliopathy in Dry Eye

PURPOSE

Lid wiper epitheliopathy (LWE) is an epitheliopathy of the marginal conjunctival portion of the eyelids that wipes the ocular surface during blinking. Although LWE is often observed in patients with dry eye, the factors determining LWE severity in dry eye remain unknown. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between LWE, tear abnormalities, and blinks in dry eye.

METHODS

This study involved 76 eyes of 76 female patients with dry eye (mean age: 57.2 yrs). In all eyes, tear meniscus radius, spread grade (SG) of the tear film lipid layer (ie, SG 1-5, with 1 being the best), fluorescein breakup time (FBUT), fluorescein breakup pattern, corneal and bulbar conjunctival epithelial damage (CED: 15 points maximum; CjED: 6 points maximum, respectively), upper eyelid LWE grade (3 points maximum), and Schirmer 1 test were evaluated. Blink rate, palpebral aperture height, upper eyelid opening/closing-phase amplitude, upper eyelid opening/closing-phase duration, and upper eyelid opening/closing-phase maximum velocity were measured by the use of a custom-made high-speed blink analyzer. Finally, the factors that determine the LWE grade were investigated by multiple regression analysis, in which the parameters were chosen using the stepwise procedure.

RESULTS

Significant correlations were found between LWE grade and tear meniscus radius, SG, FBUT, CED, CjED, and Schirmer 1 test (P < 0.002). LWE grade was found to be described as -0.001 + (0.283 × SG) - (0.253 × FBUT) + (0.003 × upper eyelid closing-phase maximum velocity) (R2 = 0.57, P < 0.0001). The prevalence and grade of LWE were significantly higher in aqueous deficient dry eye.

CONCLUSIONS

Tear volume, tear film stability, and blink should be considered as factors for determining LWE severity.

Management of Visual Dysfunction in Patients with Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a movement disorder with many symptoms responsive to treatment with dopamine agonists, anti-cholinergics and the dopamine precursor, levodopa. The cardinal features of PD include tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia, and postural instability. There also are non-motor features that include sleep disorders, cognitive and affective dysfunction, hyposmia, pain and dysautonomia (constipation, bloating, orthostasis, urinary symptoms, sexual dysfunction, dysphagia). Among these non-motor features are signs and symptoms of visual system impairment that range from subtle examination findings to those causing severe disability. In this review we describe common PD-related abnormalities in the visual system, how they present, and potential treatments.

Non-invasive high-speed blinking kinematics characterization

PURPOSE

The objective of this study was to analyze the differences in blinking kinematics of spontaneous and voluntary blinks using for the first time a self-developed, non-invasive, and image processing-based method.

METHODS

The blinks of 30 subjects were recorded for 1 min with the support of an eye-tracking device based on a high-speed infrared video camera, working at 250 frames per second, under two different experimental conditions. For the first condition, subjects were ordered to look in the straightforward position at a fixation target placed 1 m in front of them, with no further instructions. For the second, subjects were additionally asked to blink only following a sound signal every 6 s.

RESULTS

Mean complete blinks increased by a factor of 1.7 from the spontaneous to the voluntary condition while mean incomplete blinks reduced significantly by a factor of 0.4. In both conditions, closing mean and peak velocities were always significantly greater and durations significantly lower than opening ones. When comparing the values for each condition, velocities and amplitudes for the voluntary condition were always greater than the corresponding values for spontaneous.

CONCLUSION

Voluntary blinks revealed significant kinematic differences compared to spontaneous, thus supporting a different supranuclear pathway organization. This study presents a new method, based on image analysis, for the non-invasive kinematic characterization of blinking.

Spontaneous, Voluntary, and Reflex Blinking in Clinical Practice

Blinking is one of the motor acts performed more frequently by healthy human subjects. It involves the reciprocal action of at least two muscles: the orbicularis oculi shows a brief phasic activation while the levator palpebrae shows transient inhibition. In clinical practice, noninvasive recording of the orbicularis oculi activity is sufficient to obtain useful information for electrodiagnostic testing. Blinking can be spontaneous, voluntary, or reflex. Although the analysis of spontaneous blinks can already furnish interesting data, most studies are based on reflex blinking. This article is a review of some of the alterations that can be observed in blinking, focusing in four patterns of abnormality that can be distinguished in the blink reflex: (1) afferent versus efferent, which allows characterization of trigeminal or facial lesions; (2) peripheral versus central, which distinguishes alterations in nerve conduction from those involving synaptic delay; (3) upper versus lower brainstem lesions, which indicates the lesions involving specific circuits for trigeminal and somatosensory blink reflexes; and (4) asymmetric abnormal excitability pattern, which shows a unilateral alteration in the descending control of excitability in brainstem circuits. The blink reflex excitability recovery curve to paired stimuli may provide information about other modulatory inputs to trigemino-facial circuits, such as those proposed for the connection between basal ganglia and trigeminal neurons. Finally, prepulse inhibition of blink reflex reflects the motor surrogate of subcortical gating on sensory volleys, which is still another window by which electrodiagnosis can document motor control mechanisms and their abnormalities in neurologic diseases.

Objective assessment of blinking and facial expressions in Parkinson's disease using a vertical electro-oculogram and facial surface electromyography

OBJECTIVE

Hypomimia is a common and early symptom of Parkinson's disease (PD), which reduces the ability of PD patients to manifest emotions. Currently, it is visually evaluated by the neurologist during neurological examinations for PD diagnosis, as described in task 3.2 of the Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS). Since such an evaluation is semi-quantitative and affected by inter-variability, this paper aims to measure the physiological parameters related to eye blink and facial expressions extracted from a vertical electro-oculogram (VEOG) and facial surface electromyography (fsEMG) to differentiate PD patients from healthy control subjects (HCs).

APPROACH

The spontaneous eye blink rate-minute (sEBR), its maximum amplitude (BMP), and facial cutaneous muscle activity were measured in 24 PD patients and 24 HCs while the subjects looked at a visual-tester composed of three main parts: static vision, dynamic vision and reading silently. Specificity and sensitivity for each parameter were calculated.

MAIN RESULTS

The VEOG and the fsEMG allowed the identification of some parameters related to eye blink and facial expressions (i.e. sEBR, BMP, frontal and peribuccal muscular activities), being able to distinguish between PD patients and HCs with high sensitivity and specificity.

SIGNIFICANCE

The demonstration that the combination of parameters related to eye blink and facial expressions can discriminate (with high accuracy) between PD patients versus HCs, thus resulting in a useful tool to support the neurologist in objective assessment of hypomimia for improving PD diagnosis.

Relationship Between Ocular Surface Epithelial Damage, Tear Abnormalities, and Blink in Patients With Dry Eye

PURPOSE

Considering that tears play the role of a lubricant, it is speculated that in the pathophysiology of dry eye, increased friction during blinking results in corneal and conjunctival damage, which may subsequently affect the blink. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between ocular surface epithelial damage, tear abnormalities, and blinks in patients with dry eye.

METHODS

This study involved 45 eyes of 45 female patients with dry eye (mean age: 57.6 years). In all eyes, tear meniscus radius (mm), spread grade of the tear film lipid layer (SG: 1-5: 1 being the best), fluorescein breakup time (FBUT, seconds), corneal and bulbar conjunctival epithelial damage (CED: 15 points maximum and CONJUNCTIVAL EPITHELIAL DAMAGE (CjED): 6 points maximum, respectively), and Schirmer I test (ST1, mm) were evaluated. Blink rate (BR, blinks per minute), palpebral aperture height (mm), upper-eyelid opening-phase amplitude/upper-eyelid closing-phase amplitude (mm), upper-eyelid opening-phase duration/upper-eyelid closing-phase duration (ms), and upper-eyelid opening-phase maximum velocity/upper-eyelid closing-phase maximum velocity (mm/s) were measured using a custom-made high-speed blink analyzer. Finally, the factors that determine CED and CjED were investigated by multiple regression analysis, in which the parameters were chosen using the stepwise procedure.

RESULTS

CED and CjED were found to be described as 2.687 + (1.816 × SG) - (0.937 × FBUT) (R = 0.656, P < 0.0001) and 0.684 + (0.801 × SG) - (0.526 × FBUT) - (0.041 × ST1) + (0.010 × upper-eyelid closing-phase maximum velocity) (R = 0.714, P < 0.0001), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Although CED was significantly related to only tear abnormalities, CjED was significantly related to tear abnormalities and blinking.