Laura Cercenelli1, Guido Tiberi2, Ivan Corazza3, Giuseppe Giannaccare4, Michela Fresina4, Emanuela Marcelli2. 1. Laboratory of Bioengineering, DIMES Department, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy. Electronic address: laura.cercenelli@unibo.it. 2. Laboratory of Bioengineering, DIMES Department, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy. 3. Medical Physics Activities Coordination Center, DIMES Department, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy. 4. Ophthalmology Unit, DIMES Department, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna and S. Orsola-Malpighi Teaching Hospital, Bologna, Italy.
Abstract
PURPOSE: Many open source software packages have been recently developed to expand the usability of eye tracking systems to study oculomotor behavior, but none of these is specifically designed to encompass all the main functions required for creating eye tracking tests and for providing the automatic analysis of saccadic eye movements. The aim of this study is to introduce SacLab, an intuitive, freely-available MATLAB toolbox based on Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) that we have developed to increase the usability of the ViewPoint EyeTracker (Arrington Research, Scottsdale, AZ, USA) in clinical ophthalmology practice. METHODS: SacLab consists of four processing modules that enable the user to easily create visual stimuli tests (Test Designer), record saccadic eye movements (Data Recorder), analyze the recorded data to automatically extract saccadic parameters of clinical interest (Data Analyzer) and provide an aggregate analysis from multiple eye movements recordings (Saccade Analyzer), without requiring any programming effort by the user. RESULTS: A demo application of SacLab to carry out eye tracking tests for the analysis of horizontal saccades was reported. We tested the usability of SacLab toolbox with three ophthalmologists who had no programming experience; the ophthalmologists were briefly trained in the use of SacLab GUIs and were asked to perform the demo application. The toolbox gained an enthusiastic feedback from all the clinicians in terms of intuitiveness, ease of use and flexibility. Test creation and data processing were accomplished in 52±21s and 46±19s, respectively, using the SacLab GUIs. CONCLUSIONS: SacLab may represent a useful tool to ease the application of the ViewPoint EyeTracker system in clinical routine in ophthalmology.
PURPOSE: Many open source software packages have been recently developed to expand the usability of eye tracking systems to study oculomotor behavior, but none of these is specifically designed to encompass all the main functions required for creating eye tracking tests and for providing the automatic analysis of saccadic eye movements. The aim of this study is to introduce SacLab, an intuitive, freely-available MATLAB toolbox based on Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) that we have developed to increase the usability of the ViewPoint EyeTracker (Arrington Research, Scottsdale, AZ, USA) in clinical ophthalmology practice. METHODS: SacLab consists of four processing modules that enable the user to easily create visual stimuli tests (Test Designer), record saccadic eye movements (Data Recorder), analyze the recorded data to automatically extract saccadic parameters of clinical interest (Data Analyzer) and provide an aggregate analysis from multiple eye movements recordings (Saccade Analyzer), without requiring any programming effort by the user. RESULTS: A demo application of SacLab to carry out eye tracking tests for the analysis of horizontal saccades was reported. We tested the usability of SacLab toolbox with three ophthalmologists who had no programming experience; the ophthalmologists were briefly trained in the use of SacLab GUIs and were asked to perform the demo application. The toolbox gained an enthusiastic feedback from all the clinicians in terms of intuitiveness, ease of use and flexibility. Test creation and data processing were accomplished in 52±21s and 46±19s, respectively, using the SacLab GUIs. CONCLUSIONS: SacLab may represent a useful tool to ease the application of the ViewPoint EyeTracker system in clinical routine in ophthalmology.
Authors: Laura Cercenelli; Michela Fresina; Barbara Bortolani; Guido Tiberi; Giuseppe Giannaccare; E C Campos; Emanuela Marcelli Journal: J Healthc Eng Date: 2018-07-22 Impact factor: 2.682