Temporal Structured-Illumination Saccadometry System
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing eye tracker systems for saccadometry are expensive, cumbersome, and have high data storage requirements, limiting their deployment in the field, and typically only record horizontal eye movements with limited temporal sampling rates.
Innovation Solution
A system using off-the-shelf components like LEDs and standard frame-rate CCD or CMOS imagers, generating multiple images in a temporal sequence with a time delay, allowing for high temporal resolution saccadic motion tracking without the need for high-frame-rate video equipment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If fast-framing imagers are used to achieve high temporal sampling rates, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the temporal sampling function by using multiple sequential images within a single frame to capture eye position at different time points. Instead of requiring a single high-speed imager, the system divides the measurement into multiple lower-speed captures taken in rapid succession, achieving high temporal resolution through temporal multiplexing of standard-frame-rate images.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary computational process that extracts temporal information from spatially-sequenced images. By using image processing algorithms to analyze the sequence of standard-frame-rate images, the system mediates between low-cost hardware and high-precision measurement requirements, deriving saccade parameters without needing expensive fast-framing imagers.
2Measurement precision
If fast-framing imagers are used to achieve high temporal sampling rates, then measurement precision is improved, but cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs inexpensive standard-frame-rate imagers and LEDs instead of costly fast-framing equipment. The system uses readily available, low-cost components that can be easily manufactured and deployed, sacrificing the need for expensive specialized hardware while maintaining measurement capability through clever use of temporal sequencing and image processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the operational parameters of standard components by using them in a temporal sequence rather than their conventional simultaneous operation. By varying the timing and sequence of image capture and processing, the system extracts high-temporal-resolution information from low-speed hardware, effectively changing how standard components are utilized to achieve superior performance.
3Measurement precision
If fast-framing imagers are used to achieve high temporal sampling rates, then measurement precision is improved, but data storage requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential temporal information needed for saccade measurement from the sequence of images, rather than storing complete high-resolution video data. By isolating and processing only the relevant eye position data points from each image in the sequence, the system dramatically reduces data storage requirements while maintaining the ability to measure rapid eye movements with high temporal precision.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables effective monitoring of saccadic motion with a temporal resolution of up to 300 Hz using standard components, reducing costs and complexity while providing detailed eye movement analysis.
Implementation Method 1
detecting relative motion of an object and an illumination source... a reflection of an illumination source from an eye of the subject
Implementation Method 2
A focusing element is provided. The illumination source is configured, in cooperation with the focusing element and the detector, to generate at least first and second images
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides devices and methods for detecting and tracking fast-moving-object. In one application, the present invention can be employed to detect and track fast eye movements (saccades). An example device of the present invention tracks a moving object by generating, within a single frame of a detector (e.g., a video camera) two or more images of the moving object. The images are generated by illuminating the moving objects with sequentially activated light sources (e.g. sequentially strobed light-emitting diodes). The rate at which the light sources are sequentially activated exceeds the frame rate of the detector, resulting in generating multiple images of the moving object within a single frame of the detector. The devices and methods described herein, including a saccadometry system, can utilize off-the-shelf components and does not require expensive high-frame-rate video equipment. These devices and methods can be used to track a moving object with a temporal resolution far greater than that normally achievable with standard 15 fps to 30 fps frame-rate imagers.