Accurate and early detection of Parkinson’s

Tobii’s partner RightEye, an award-winning health technology company, has announced that the RightEye Vision System has received Breakthrough Device Designation from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The system, which utilizes Tobii eye tracking, supports the detection and monitoring of health and vision issues, focusing on early and accurate detection of Parkinson’s disease.

An estimated 7–10 million people live with Parkinson’s disease worldwide, with men 1.5 times more likely to contract the illness than women. Diagnosis is complex because symptoms such as rigidity and reduced movement can be signs of other neurological diseases. Misdiagnosis is a significant impediment to effective treatment, with over 60 percent of patients misdiagnosed at least once. RightEye and its revolutionary RightEye Vision System, equipped with eye tracking from Tobii, are set to change this, improving patient outcomes and quality of life as well as reducing the cost to national health systems globally.

The FDA’s Breakthrough Device Program was designed to streamline the market clearance and approval process for certain medical devices that provide for more effective treatment or diagnosis of life-threatening or irreversibly debilitating diseases or conditions. RightEye has received the first and only Breakthrough Device Designation for a device that uses objective eye movement measurements to aid in the assessment of Parkinson’s disease.

Eye-movement patterns and how they are indicative of certain illnesses have shaped the system design of RightEye’s solution. Research reveals that people with Parkinson’s disease exhibit persistent ocular tremors during visual fixation — the ability to maintain gaze on a certain point. The system is capable of accurate and early detection through the identification of these tell-tale ocular tremors, which can occur long before other symptoms.

Research into ocular disease and eye movement patterns has led to the creation of a new industry whose groundbreaking products can significantly improve patient quality of life. Eye tracking technology plays a pivotal role in the development of such solutions — providing accurate data, applicable for all users, and delivered as a flexible solution that adapts to a wide range of industries and applications.