New Technology To Diagnose Eye Diseases
Believe it or not, the way we blink our eyelids can be influenced by neurologic conditions, autoimmune diseases, and other factors. In order to take advantage of this knowledge, though, one needs a device that can accurately measure the movement of the eyelids. At Technion-Israel Institute of Technology researchers have designed just such an apparatus, which relies on a magnetic field sensor to detect eyelid dynamics.
Researchers at the Technion’s Andrew and Erna Viterbi Faculty of Electrical Engineering have developed a device that can diagnose diseases by means of an eyelid motion monitor (EMM). The project was published recently in Graefe’s Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology.
Already in its developmental stages, the device has won several international awards, and was ranked in the top 20 in the Texas Instruments Innovation Challenge (TIIC) – Europe Design Contest. Over the past two years, the device has been used in clinical trials at Haemek Medical Center in Afula, Israel.
The device was first developed by Technion Prof. Levi Schachter and doctoral student Adi Hanuka, who began working on it as an undergraduate. Hanuka continued working on it during her graduate studies, with the help of a team of students working under her supervision.