KR20160099140A - Virtual reality system based on eye movement and perceptual function for self diagnosis and training of dementia - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is a dementia diagnosis inspection apparatus comprising: an eye movement inspecting unit including a display device to display an object used for tracking an eye movement and an eye focus, and an eye tracking device to track the eye focus which is fixated or moves along with an object; a perceptual function inspecting unit which outputs perceptual inspection data used to inspect a perceptual function, receiving response data of a subject with respect to the perceptual inspection data; and a diagnosis unit which generates data on the eye movement and the perceptual function of the subject based on input and output data to and from the eye movement inspecting unit or the perceptual function inspecting unit, generating dementia diagnosis data of the subject using a prestored database. According to the present invention, a diagnosis reliability for dementia is able to be improved by measuring both the eye movement and the perceptual function.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a virtual reality system based on eye movements and perceptual functions for early diagnosis and training of dementia,

The present invention relates to a diagnostic test apparatus for dementia, and relates to a method for early diagnosis of dementia by measuring eye movement and perception ability.

The present invention is derived from research carried out as a part of the core research project of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology [assignment: 2012-R1A2A2-04047239, Title: Study on the Improvement of Social Communication Ability through Hyper-Scanning Technique].

Although the proportion of the elderly population has been increasing steadily in recent years, the awareness of the dementia that may occur as a result of the transition to the old age is not good, and even if the early diagnosis of dementia can make the treatment easier, .

The test method for diagnosing dementia consists of an examination method using eye movements. In this regard, Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2007-0027958 (published on Mar. 12, 2007) discloses a method for measuring EEG during a concentrated operation of eyeball or eyeball movement and analyzing the characteristics of measured EEG to detect and monitor dementia A diagnostic device is disclosed.

However, since the method described above requires measurement of brain waves, it is not possible to conveniently diagnose due to expensive equipment, and the possibility of misdiagnosis can not be ruled out by diagnosing dementia using only eye movement.

Korean Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2007-0027958 (published on March 12, 2007) discloses an apparatus for diagnosing dementia using diversity of the frequency components of the theta band.

In one embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to accurately determine whether or not dementia is caused by integrating the eye focus and eye motion and the perception test including the auditory and olfactory by multiplexing the examination of the function. The HMD (Head Mounted Display) It is possible to provide a dementia diagnosis and examination apparatus capable of early diagnosis of dementia at home, since the examination is performed in a virtual reality space using an eye tracker. It should be understood, however, that the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described technical problems, and other technical problems may exist.

As a technical means for achieving the above-mentioned technical object, an embodiment of the present invention is a display device for displaying an object for inducing eye movement and eye focus, a display device for displaying an object for moving the eye, An eye movement test section including an eye tracking device, a perception function test section for outputting the perception test data for testing the perception function, receiving the subject's reaction data for the perception test data, and the input / output data of the eye movement test section or the perception function test section And generates a dementia diagnostic data of the subject using the pre-stored database.

According to any one of the above-mentioned objects of the present invention, it is possible to accurately distinguish brain diseases, aging, and dementia by measuring the eye movement and the sensory function in a complex manner, analyze the correlation between the functions, Dementia, etc., by collecting the data of diverse subjects, it is possible to increase the diagnostic reliability of dementia by constructing a statistical distribution of multivariate data in an integrated index database.

1 is a block diagram for explaining a dementia diagnosis diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining the configuration of the dementia diagnostic test apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of measuring eye movement among the methods of examining eye movement in the dementia diagnostic test apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG.
FIG. 4 is a view illustrating an embodiment for measuring a user's reaction according to visual and auditory data in the dementia diagnostic testing apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG.
FIG. 5 is a view illustrating an embodiment of a user's reaction according to visual and olfactory data in the dementia diagnostic testing apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, which will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. In order to clearly illustrate the present invention, parts not related to the description are omitted, and similar parts are denoted by like reference characters throughout the specification.

Throughout the specification, when a part is referred to as being "connected" to another part, it includes not only "directly connected" but also "electrically connected" with another part in between . Also, when an element is referred to as "including" an element, it is to be understood that the element may include other elements as well as other elements, And does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram for explaining a dementia diagnosis diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the dementia diagnosis and examination apparatus 1 may include an eye movement examination unit 100, a perception function examination unit 200, and a diagnosis unit 600. Here, the perception function testing unit 200 may include an auditory function testing unit 300, a olfactory function testing unit 400, and a reaction input unit 500. However, since the dementia diagnosis apparatus 1 of FIG. 1 is only an embodiment of the present invention, the present invention is not limited to FIG.

At this time, the respective components of FIG. 1 may be directly connected or may be connected through a network. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the eye movement testing unit 100 may be connected to the diagnosis unit 600 directly or via a network. The perception function testing unit 200 may be connected to the diagnosis unit 600 directly or via a network. In addition, the auditory function testing unit 300, the olfactory function testing unit 400, and the reaction input unit 500 may generate a connection with each other directly or via a network.

Here, the network means a connection structure in which information can be exchanged between each node such as terminals and servers. An example of such a network is an Internet, a LAN (Local Area Network), a Wireless LAN But are not limited to, Local Area Network (WAN), Wide Area Network (WAN), Personal Area Network (PAN), 3G, 4G, LTE, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The ocular motion examination unit 100, the auditory function examination unit 300, the olfactory function examination unit 400, the reaction input unit 500 and the diagnosis unit 600 shown in FIG. 1 are limited to those shown in FIG. 1, It is not.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining the configuration of the dementia diagnosis and examination apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a method of measuring eye movement in the dementia diagnosis apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a view showing an embodiment of measuring a user's reaction according to visual and auditory data in the dementia diagnosis testing apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 1 is a view illustrating an embodiment of measuring a user's reaction according to visual and olfactory data in the illustrated dementia diagnostic testing apparatus.

Referring to FIG. 2, the eye movement testing unit 100 may include a display device 110, an eye tracking device 130, and a motion detection sensor 150. The perception function testing unit 200 may include an auditory function testing unit 300, a olfactory function testing unit 400, and a reaction input unit 500.

The oculomotor testing unit 100 includes a display device 110 for displaying an object for tracking ocular movement and ocular focus and an eye tracking device 130 for tracking the focus of the fixed or moving eyeball . Here, the display device 110 can display the object as two-dimensional or three-dimensional virtual reality data. In addition, the display device 110 may be an HMD (Head Mounted Display), and the eye tracking device 130 may be an eye tracker integrated system.

In addition, the ocular motion examining unit 100 may include a saccade for measuring the speed at which the eye focus moves from one point to another, a smooth motion tracking unit for tracking the movement of the eye that tracks the moving object, At least one of gaze fixation for measuring the movement of the eyeball between a plurality of objects located at a long distance and a short distance, and fixation for measuring the time fixed to the object having the eye focus, You can output objects for the inspection method. Through this, the diagnosis unit 600 can diagnose the dementia of the subject based on at least one inspection method.

That is, in order to verify that the decrease in the ability to regulate the eye movement is caused by a disease such as dementia rather than merely an aging phenomenon, various tests must be performed in a complex manner. You can use EyeTracker, which can be checked. In addition, since a three-dimensional virtual reality space using an HMD or the like is required for examining the perspective movement ability in the eye movement testing unit 100, when the eye movement is tracked in the three-dimensional real space by combining the eye tracker and the HMD, A complex test environment can be constructed for the motor function.

Here, the oculomotor testing unit 100 may further include a motion sensor 150 for sensing the movement of the head. Here, the correlation between the eye movement, the eye focus, and the head movement can be analyzed through the diagnosis unit 600. At this time, the motion detection sensor 150 may be a gyro sensor, an acceleration sensor, or a three-axis sensor.

The perception function testing unit 200 outputs the perception test data for examining the perception function and receives the subject's reaction data with respect to the perception test data. That is, it is possible to implement an early diagnosis technique to discriminate between aging and dementia through the oculomotor testing unit 100. For example, it is possible to use an accurate ocular movement data such as a microscopic eye movement required for testing a fixation function Acquisition may be difficult. In addition, when measured in a virtual reality space rather than a real reality, a balance disorder caused by a gap between my body and reality, irrespective of a specific disease, may cause difficulty in normal eye movement. Therefore, the perception function testing unit 200 can increase the sensitivity to changes in memory function due to dementia, and can use the auditory and olfactory function tests, which are inspection methods for memory functions. In order to improve accuracy and reliability, (100) and the perception function testing unit (200) are operated at the same time so that the time and the perception can be integrally performed.

Here, the perception function test data may include auditory test data. At this time, the auditory test data may include auditory data for auditory auditory function or audiovisual integrated data for controlling eye movement and eye focus. In addition, the auditory data may include data of a Synthetic Sentence Identification-Ipsilateral Competing Message test for outputting a message to one side or the other side or a Dichotic Sentence Identification test for outputting a different message to both sides. Lt; / RTI > In addition, the audiovisual integrated data may be data that allows the subject's eye movement and eye focus to be controlled based on the auditory data. For example, a method in which the ocular motion examination unit 100 and the auditory function examination unit 300 are integrated can be used. In other words, when a target sentence or a word is heard, a gaze is moved toward a target (Saccade), a gaze is fixed to a target, or a target is fixed, while a different message is arbitrarily transmitted to one or both ears in a virtual reality space through an HMD You can test multiple targets for tracking the moving target (Smooth Pursuit), and for the ability to move the gaze between distant and near targets (Vergence). In addition, various types of eye movements can be induced according to the scenarios in which auditory information and visual information are integrated, and it is possible to check how well the subject fuses audiovisual information to process the information.

Through this, the diagnosis unit 600 can generate the diagnostic data based on the response data of the subject to the auditory test data input from the perception function testing unit 200. [ Here, the reaction input unit 500 may be a device capable of collecting behavior response data of the subject, for example, a button box or a camera.

In addition, the perception inspection data may include olfactory inspection data. Here, the olfactory test data may include olfactory data for examining the olfactory function, or synoptic data for controlling ocular movement and eye focus. Here, the olfactory data may be data based on a Smell Identification Test (SIT), and the systolic integrating data may be data that allows the eye movement and ocular focus of the subject to be controlled based on the olfactory data. For example, a method in which the ocular motion examination unit 100 and the olfactory function testing unit 400 are integrated can be used. In other words, when a target stimulus is detected while arbitrarily transmitting different olfactory stimuli in a virtual reality space through the HMD, the gaze is moved toward the visual object related to the target stimulus (Saccade), the gaze is fixed to the target ) Or tracking the moving target (Smooth Pursuit), and versatile inspection of the ability to move the gaze between distant and near targets (Vergence). In addition, various types of eye movements can be induced according to a scenario in which the olfactory information and the visual information are integrated, and it is possible to check how well the subject fuses the sight information to process the information.

The diagnosis unit 600 may generate diagnostic data based on the subject's reaction data with respect to the olfactory test data input from the sensory function testing unit 200. [ Here, the reaction input unit 500 may be a device capable of collecting the time data, for example, a button box or a camera.

The diagnosis unit 600 analyzes the data of the eye movement and the perception function of the subject based on the input / output data of the eye movement testing unit 100 or the perception function testing unit 200 and analyzes the data of the subject's dementia diagnosis data Lt; / RTI > The diagnosis unit 600 may include an apparatus for temporarily storing data of eye movement and perception function for a long period of time, software for inputting and outputting data from a pre-stored database, and algorithms for analyzing data of eye movement and perception function.

An embodiment of the apparatus 1 for diagnosing dementia according to an embodiment of the present invention having the above-described configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5. FIG.

FIG. 3 shows an example of eye movement. Eye movement is one kind of eye movement. The eyeball moves quickly from one gaze point to another gaze point, which is important for the perception of text and images. It plays a role. Here, (a) shows how the neural network of the brain responds to the movement of the eyeball. And, when the movement like (b) occurs, the perceptual reaction place of the brain may be moved as shown in (c).

Referring to FIG. 4, the user performs an action of raising his / her hand using audiovisual information. For example, audiovisual information can be used to diagnose dementia by examining the integrated function of auditory-visuomotor processing by integrating visuomotor processing using conventional eye movements or central auditory processing using auditory only, And can be differentiated from the approach of Through the auditory response data obtained through this, it is possible to mainly evaluate functions related to working memory and attention, and to evaluate functions such as exercise control and visual information processing functions through eye movement data. Data of various subjects such as normal person, memory disorder, and dementia for eye movement and auditory function may be collected, and a single integrated index database may be constructed using statistical distribution of multivariate data.

Referring to FIG. 5, it is shown that the subject performs an action of moving the eyeball using the sighting angle information. Here, even if the olfactory function deterioration occurs, it is not always the initial symptom of dementia, and since it can also be caused by various causes, it is necessary to perform various cognitive function tests when the olfactory function is deteriorated. The dementia diagnostic testing device (1) overcomes the limitations of the conventional olfactory function test and can simultaneously perform the olfactory function test and other sensory function tests. That is, for example, it is possible to provide the olfactory stimulus in the HMD-based virtual reality space, provide feedback by instantly visualizing the test result, or find the place where the stimulus is directly stimulated by the subject using the olfactory stimulus The integration of function and visual function can lead to much more diverse diagnostic tests than a simple olfactory test. Further, such pluralistic tests can increase the degree of immersion and concentration of the subject, so that the cognitive function can be evaluated more accurately. Through these tests, the olfactory test data and the eye movement test data can be collected, a database can be constructed, and statistical diagnostic indicators can be developed.

The method of driving the dementia diagnostic testing apparatus according to the embodiment described with reference to Figs. 1 to 5 may also be implemented in the form of a recording medium including instructions executable by a computer, such as an application executed by a computer or a program module . Computer readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by a computer and includes both volatile and nonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media. In addition, the computer-readable medium can include both computer storage media and communication media. Computer storage media includes both volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Communication media typically includes any information delivery media, including computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave, or other transport mechanism.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing description of the present invention is for illustrative purposes only and that those of ordinary skill in the art can readily understand that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics of the present invention. will be. It is therefore to be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative in all aspects and not restrictive. For example, each component described as a single entity may be distributed and implemented, and components described as being distributed may also be implemented in a combined form.

The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the detailed description and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalents are to be construed as being included within the scope of the present invention do.

Claims (12)

A display device for displaying an object for tracking an eye movement and an eye focus, and an eye movement test part including an eye tracking device for tracking the focus of the eye moved or fixed along the object;
A perception function test unit for outputting perception test data for testing the perception function and receiving the reaction data of the subject with respect to the perception test data; And
A diagnostic unit for generating eye movement and perception function data of the subject based on the input / output data of the eye movement testing unit or the perception function testing unit and generating dementia diagnosis data of the subject using the pre-
Wherein the dementia diagnosis device is a dementia diagnosis device.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the display device displays the object as two-dimensional or three-dimensional virtual reality data.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the display device is an HMD (Head Mounted Display), and the eye tracking device is an eye tracker integrated system.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the eyeball movement testing unit comprises:
Saccade to measure the speed at which the eye focus moves from one point to another, Smooth Pursuit to track the continuous movement of the eye to track the moving object, And an object for at least one of the inspection methods of at least one of a perspective movement measuring a movement between a plurality of objects existing in a short distance and a fixation for measuring a time fixed to the object having the eye focus, And outputs the diagnosis result.
5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the diagnosis unit diagnoses whether or not the subject is dementia based on the at least one examination method.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the eyeball movement testing unit comprises:
Motion sensor to detect movement of head
Further comprising:
Wherein the correlation between the eye movement and the eye focus and the movement of the head is analyzed.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the perceptual inspection data includes auditory inspection data,
Wherein the auditory test data comprises auditory data for auditory auditory function or audiovisual integrated data for controlling eye movement and eye focus.
8. The method of claim 7,
The hearing data may include:
(Dichotic Sentence Identification Test) data for outputting a different message to both sides or outputting a different message to one side or the other side of a sentence,
Wherein the diagnosis unit generates diagnostic data based on reaction data of the subject with respect to the auditory test data input from the perception function testing unit.
8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the audiovisual integrated data is data for controlling the eye movement and eye focus of the subject based on the auditory data.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the perceptual inspection data includes olfactory inspection data,
Wherein the olfactory test data includes olfactory data for examining the olfactory function, or synoptic data for controlling ocular movement and eye focus.
11. The method of claim 10,
Wherein the olfactory data is data based on an SIT (Smell Identification Test).
11. The method of claim 10,
Wherein the post-sight integration data is data for controlling the eye movement and the eye focus of the subject based on the olfactory data.

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