Miriam Boutros, a Master's student in Science, has unveiled promising research that could revolutionize early detection methods for Alzheimer's disease. During her presentation titled "Towards the Detection of Alzheimer’s Disease through Eye Movement Changes Using a Hearable" at the 187th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America on November 19, 2024, Boutros highlighted how hearables—advanced in-ear devices—might detect cognitive decline by monitoring involuntary eye movements known as saccades. This pioneering study suggests that subtle changes in eye movement could indicate early signs of Alzheimer's, offering new hope for timely intervention.
The study involves using both wearables and conventional eye trackers to link eardrum oscillations with the amplitude and trajectory of saccades. These involuntary rapid eye movements are not only indicative of potential cognitive decline but also serve as a critical focus in Boutros's research. She explained, “Alzheimer’s disease patients have saccades that are shorter, more variable and less accurate. Also, eye movements cause vibrations of the eardrum, which can be detected by the in-ear microphones of the hearables. This means that hearables are a good potential method to track eye movement changes.”
Hearables capture signals with remarkable sensitivity due to their placement within the ear canal. Boutros elaborated on their functionality: “Containing in-ear microphones, hearables capture signals with remarkable sensitivity. In fact, when the ear canal is occluded, vibrations generated by bone and tissue conduction become amplified. This means that subtle sounds from the wearer’s heartbeat to their voice, cough, breath, or even the blink of an eye can be detected.”
The potential of hearables extends beyond Alzheimer's detection. Boutros and her team are also exploring their application in diagnosing Parkinson's disease—a neurological disorder that affects motor control. Parkinson’s patients often face difficulties with swallowing and regulating breath. Boutros noted, “Swallowing is very visible when we get the signal from the in-ear microphone.” She added that while the work on Parkinson’s disease is still in its nascent stages, they are keenly developing a proof of concept. “So, eventually we’re aiming to tackle more than just Alzheimer’s. We’re actually also looking into Parkinson’s,” she stated.
The implications of this research are significant. Alexander Solomon, a surgical neuro-ophthalmologist, emphasized the importance of early detection in managing Alzheimer's: “Anything we can do to detect the disease earlier is a boon for making sure patients are caught early on in the disease course — as treatments are developed and improve catching the disease before there are more permanent changes in cognition will likely be key.” However, he also raised questions about the utility of wearables in real-world scenarios: “Many things ranging from alternative diagnoses affecting eye movements to the amount of signal-to-noise ratio would limit the utility of such a device in the real world, partially because you are inferring eye movement from changes in the oscillations rather than tracking it directly.”
Despite these challenges, the prospect of using hearables for screening patients in familiar settings holds great promise. Solomon acknowledged that methods enabling patient screening in spaces they frequent could significantly enhance detection efforts.
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