Gaze Detection for Cognitive Dysfunction Evaluation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for evaluating cognitive dysfunction and brain disorders, such as dementia with Lewy bodies, rely on subjective assessments and lack objectivity, making accurate and early detection challenging.
Innovation Solution
An evaluation device and method that uses a display unit to detect a subject's point of gaze on images designed to induce visual hallucinations, calculating feature values based on gaze area characteristics to determine evaluation data, thereby providing an objective assessment of cognitive dysfunction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If subjective assessment methods are used to evaluate cognitive dysfunction, then the evaluation process is simple, but the objectivity and accuracy of the evaluation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces subjective human assessment with an automated computer-based evaluation system that uses point-of-gaze detection and image processing algorithms to objectively measure visual hallucination susceptibility, thereby improving evaluation accuracy while maintaining manageable system complexity through software automation
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary evaluation system that uses specially designed test images and point-of-gaze detection technology as mediators between the subject and the evaluation process, enabling objective measurement of visual hallucination susceptibility without requiring direct subjective reporting from the subject
2Reliability
If point-of-gaze detection is used to objectively evaluate visual hallucinations, then evaluation objectivity improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex manual observation and subjective reporting with automated point-of-gaze detection technology that tracks eye movements and calculates area of staying automatically, improving evaluation reliability while managing device complexity through software-based processing
Solution Approach 2:
The evaluation system performs self-service by automatically detecting point-of-gaze positions, calculating area of staying metrics, and generating evaluation results without requiring manual intervention, thereby improving reliability while keeping the operational complexity manageable
3Measurement precision
If detailed area of staying analysis is performed on gaze patterns, then measurement precision improves, but loss of time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial action by focusing gaze analysis specifically on the area of staying metric rather than analyzing all possible gaze parameters, achieving sufficient measurement precision for diagnosing visual hallucination susceptibility while minimizing evaluation time through selective measurement
Data Source
AI summary
An evaluation device includes a display unit; a point-of-gaze detector configured to detect a position of a point of gaze of a subject on the display unit; a display controller configured to display, on the display unit, an image containing an induction area that tends to induce visual hallucinations in the subject; a determination unit configured to, based on position data on the point of gaze, determine whether the point of gaze is staying; an area detector configured to, when the determination unit determines that the point of gaze is staying, calculate an area of staying in which the point of gaze is staying in the display unit; an acquisition unit configured to acquire a feature value representing a state of display of the area of staying that is calculated by the area setting unit; and an evaluation unit.