Combined head and eye tracking system for dynamic testing of the vestibular system

The authors present a combined head-eye tracking system suitable for use with free head movement during natural activities. This system provides an integrated head and eye position measurement while allowing for a large range of head movement (approx 1.8 m of head translation is tolerated). Six degrees of freedom of head motion and two degrees of freedom of eye motion are measured by the system. The system was designed to be useful for the evaluation of the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR). The VOR generates compensatory eye movements in order to stabilize gaze during linear or rotational motion of the head. Current clinical and basic research evaluation of the VOR has used a restricted range of head motion, mainly low-frequency, yaw rotation. An integrated eye-head tracking system such as the one presented here allows the VOR response to linear and angular head motion to be studied in a more physiologically relevant manner. Two examples of the utility of the integrated head and eye tracking system in evaluating the vestibular response to linear and angular motion are presented.

[1]  G. Carter.  Coherence and time delay estimation , 1987, Proceedings of the IEEE.

[2]  G D Paige,et al.  Nonlinearity and asymmetry in the human vestibulo-ocular reflex. , 1989, Acta oto-laryngologica.

[3]  T Vilis,et al.  A reexamination of the gain of the vestibuloocular reflex. , 1986, Journal of neurophysiology.

[4]  M J Correia,et al.  Elicitation of horizontal nystagmus by periodic linear acceleration. , 1966, Acta oto-laryngologica.

[5]  U. M. Landau,et al.  Estimation of a circular arc center and its radius , 1987, Comput. Vis. Graph. Image Process..

[6]  T. Haslwanter.  Mathematics of three-dimensional eye rotations , 1995, Vision Research.

[7]  G D Paige,et al.  Linear vestibulo-ocular reflex (LVOR) and modulation by vergence. , 1991, Acta oto-laryngologica. Supplementum.

[8]  Moshe Eizenman,et al.  Estimation of ocular torsion with dynamic changes in pupil size , 1994, Proceedings of 16th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.

[9]  L. Young,et al.  Survey of eye movement recording methods , 1975 .

[10]  Mehdi Hatamian,et al.  Design Considerations for a Real-Time Ocular Counterroll Instrument , 1983, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[11]  D. G. Watts,et al.  Spectral analysis and its applications , 1968 .

[12]  John Crawford,et al.  LIVING WITHOUT A BALANCING MECHANISM* , 1964, The British journal of ophthalmology.

[13]  R M Steinman,et al.  NATURAL RETINAL IMAGE MOTION: ORIGIN AND CHANGE * , 1981, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[14]  Steven Kay,et al.  Modern Spectral Estimation: Theory and Application , 1988 .

[15]  H. Collewijn,et al.  Human gaze stability in the horizontal, vertical and torsional direction during voluntary head movements, evaluated with a three-dimensional scleral induction coil technique , 1987, Vision Research.

[16]  D. Robinson,et al.  A METHOD OF MEASURING EYE MOVEMENT USING A SCLERAL SEARCH COIL IN A MAGNETIC FIELD. , 1963, IEEE transactions on bio-medical engineering.

[17]  J Merchant,et al.  Remote measurement of eye direction allowing subject motion over one cubic foot of space. , 1974, IEEE transactions on bio-medical engineering.

[18]  G. Paige,et al.  Eye movement responses to linear head motion in the squirrel monkey. I. Basic characteristics. , 1991, Journal of neurophysiology.

[19]  Meiry Jl,et al.  The vestibular system and human dynamic space orientation. NASA CR-628. , 1966 .

[20]  W. P. Huebner,et al.  Performance of the human vestibuloocular reflex during locomotion. , 1989, Journal of neurophysiology.

[21]  P. E. Hallett,et al.  Precise non-contacting measurement of eye movements using the corneal reflex , 1984, Vision Research.

[22]  R. John Leigh,et al.  Evaluation of a video tracking device for measurement of horizontal and vertical eye rotations during locomotion , 1995, Journal of Neuroscience Methods.

[23]  G R Barnes,et al.  Eye movements induced by linear acceleration are modified by visualisation of imaginary targets. , 1989, Acta oto-laryngologica. Supplementum.

[24]  R. Leigh,et al.  A reevaluation of the vestibulo‐ocular reflex , 1993, Neurology.

[25]  Mark W. Spong,et al.  Robot dynamics and control , 1989 .