Experts have developed a new program that reads the neurological vitals of an individual for the confirmation of conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and dementia. According to the new research, the program, embedded in a mobile app, could be utilized by any person who wants to screen themselves for the possibility of having a brain disorder.
Neurological Screening Mobile App Tracks Pupil Dilations for Brain Problems
The neurological screening application was studied and developed by experts from the University of California San Diego. According to the authors, the application only takes a simple set of eye recordings in order to tell if a person is currently experiencing issues in their cognitive health.
The app is equipped with technologies related to medical screening setups such as a near-infrared camera, which is also built on modern phones, as well as a specialized camera that could track the slightest detail of pupil dilations.
The main goal of the system is to measure the changes happening in the eye's pupils, which according to the scholars, help to assess if a person has a cognitive condition.
UCSD's electrical and computer engineering specialist Colin Barry explained in the institute's press release that, although the neurological screening program is still open for further improvement, their team expects that the technology's peak potential would be a reliable system that brings cognitive assessments out of the conventional laboratory setup and into the own convenience of the patients.
The team hopes that the innovation would open opportunities for other novel techniques based on smartphones that could read and track health concerns in the future, Barry continued.
The pupil, according to StudyFinds, holds information associated with cognitive functioning. The reactions of the pupil naturally depend on the interactions of the person with their social environment.
The neuro-app monitors these pupil movements, also known as dilations, by their diameter. The screening also includes a quick eye-selfie test to add contributing data regarding the potential brain conditions of an individual.
UCSD's electrical and computer engineering experts collaborated with the university's Center for Mental Health Technology (MHTech Center) in order to assemble a convenient system that could be utilized easier by any person with a smartphone compared with the traditional, expensive tests based on a lab setting.
Easier, Non-Invasive, and Affordable Cognitive Assessment
MHTech director, psychiatry expert, and co-author of the study Eric Granholm said that the app would have a huge impact on public health as it could run through a common device that is already obtained by large-scale communities. Moreover, the process would cater tests and further knowledge about dementia to the mass public due to its inexpensive and non-invasive approach.
The app covers the same measurements captured through the conventional pupil tests called pupillometry. This method is considered by international scientific communities as the standard for scaling pupil size. The app is also programmed with features that make its usage easier for people in the age group of older adults.
The study was published in the journal CHI 2022, titled "At-Home Pupillometry using Smartphone Facial Identification Cameras."
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