SBIR Phase II: Assessing comorbidities in epilepsy using eye movement recordings

这一小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第二阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是通过使用眼球跟踪测量来检测与癫痫相关的神经认知症状以及抗癫痫药物的副作用，从而改善癫痫患者的治疗和认知功能。在美国，癫痫每年造成的直接成本估计为280亿美元，此外还损害了患者及其照顾者的生活质量。眼球跟踪技术与认知监测模块相结合，将产生积极的经济和社会影响。例如，一些癫痫患者可能能够更早地重返工作岗位，照顾者监测癫痫发作和副作用的负担可能会减轻。及早识别合并症可以使简单的干预措施成为可能，例如在课堂上提供额外的支持，以改善长期结果。此外，这项技术将帮助临床医生诊断耐药患者并将其转介到专门的癫痫中心，比目前平均18年的时间要早得多。最后，该解决方案将改善新抗癫痫药物临床试验中的副作用监测，并有助于优化剂量建议。这些进展反过来将加速新的抗癫痫疗法的开发。这一小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第二阶段项目旨在通过在自然环境中被动观察眼球运动来客观可靠地识别癫痫发作并监测神经认知症状和药物副作用，从而改善癫痫患者的生活。拟议的解决方案将使用可穿戴设备来收集随时间推移的眼动数据，并将对这些数据进行分析，以量化与注意力和阅读速度等认知功能障碍相关的变化。然后，这些数据将被用来开发个性化的治疗反应简档，以帮助临床医生管理癫痫。该项目的目标是收集非癫痫发作的自发眼球运动数据，并开发提供对临床特征的洞察的算法，包括症状的改善或恶化以及可能的抗癫痫药物副作用。这项研究的结果将使我们能够设计和实施一项功能齐全的关键研究，将被动眼球跟踪数据与金标准神经精神病学评估进行比较，以治疗随着时间的推移和药物调整的天真失神癫痫患者。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is to improve the treatment and cognitive function of epilepsy patients by using eye-tracking measurements to detect neurocognitive symptoms associated with epilepsy as well as the side effects of anti-epilepsy drugs. Epilepsy results in an estimated $28 billion in direct costs annually in the United States, in addition to hurting the quality of life of patients and their caregivers. Eye tracking technology, paired with cognition monitoring modules, will have a positive economic and societal impact. For example, some patients with epilepsy may be able to return to work sooner and the burden on caregivers to monitor seizures and side effects may be reduced. Earlier identification of comorbidities can enable simple interventions, such as additional support in classrooms, to improve long term outcomes. In addition, the technology will help clinicians diagnose and refer drug-resistant patients to specialized epilepsy centers much sooner than the current average of 18 years. Finally, the solution will improve side effect monitoring in clinical trials for new antiepileptic drugs and help optimize dose recommendations. These advances will, in turn, accelerate the development of new anti-epileptic therapies. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project aims to improve the lives of epilepsy patients by using passive observation of eye movements in a naturalistic setting to objectively and reliably identify seizures and monitor neurocognitive symptoms and drug side effects. The proposed solution will use a wearable device to collect eye movement data over time and this data will be analyzed to quantify changes associated with impairments in cognitive functions such as attention and reading speed. This data then will be used to develop a personalized therapy response profile to assist clinicians in managing epilepsy. The goal of this project is to collect non-seizure, spontaneous eye movement data and develop algorithms that provide insight into clinical features, including the improvement or worsening of symptoms and possible antiepileptic drug side effects. The outcome of this research will enable a fully powered, pivotal study to be designed and carried out to compare passive eye tracking data to the gold standard neuropsychiatric assessments for the treatment of naïve absence epilepsy patients over time and as medication adjustments are made.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.