Developing a system for evaluating proximal and distal unilateral spatial neglect using head-mounted displays

Abstract

  Unilateral spatial neglect (USN) not only interferes with daily living activities and also impedes rehabilitation. The BIT test is the most common method used to test for USN. However, patients not diagnosed with USN by the BIT might still experience USN symptoms during daily living activities, as this condition might not be detected by paper and pencil tests alone. Therefore, multiple assessments, each appropriate for assessing particular symptoms, are needed. To address this, we developed a method that can objectively evaluate USN symptoms in proximal and distal spaces using head-mounted displays to measure eye gaze. We experimentally evaluated seven healthy university students and two patients with left USN. The results suggested that the method can objectively understand USN symptoms in proximal and distal space and detect minor USN symptoms by evaluating reaction times and detection rates. Moreover, the patients’ exploration methods can be understood by gaze detection, which could provide guidelines for rehabilitation.