A new technological development allows researchers, for the first time, to monitor changes in pupil size and gaze direction behind closed eyes using touchless infrared imaging. In the future, tracking changes in pupil size will help identify a state of wakefulness in sleep, anesthesia, and intensive care and help track the depth of sedation, detect seizures and nightmares, and recognize pain or responsiveness that may occur after trauma and in intensive care departments. The investigators anticipate that this technology has a strong potential to become an important tool in clinical care.
The breakthrough was achieved by a team of investigators from Tel Aviv University led by doctoral student Omer Ben Barak-Dror, under the joint supervision of Prof. Yuval Nir from the Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Sagol School of Neuroscience, and the Department of Biomedical Engineering; and Prof. Israel Gannot from the Department of Biomedical Engineering.
Other team members include Dr. Michal Tepper, Dr. Barak Hadad, Dr.
Hani Barhum and David Haggiag. The research was published in the journal Communications Medicine . Prof.
Nir notes that "it is often said that the eyes are the windows to the soul." Indeed, pupil size changes all the time, dilating or contracting to regulate the amount of incoming light, while providing valuable clinical information. We all know that our pupils get smaller in bright light and larger in darkness.
But this is only one reaso.