Introducing TRECEY: An algorithm for tremor compensation using eye-tracking during multimedia remote controller operation in Parkinson’s disease (PD)

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most prevalent progressive neurodegenerative disorder in the world. It affects 2–3% of older adults 65 and above and nearly 4% of older adults older than 85 years. One of PD’s most common motor symptoms is tremors in the limbs. These tremors cause significant difficulty in performing everyday activities such as buttoning shirts, using a fork, writing, and operating a computer mouse or television remote making the patients reliant on their caregivers. There is no cure for PD, and treatment options to manage the tremors have decreasing response over time. Several wearable assistive devices have been developed in recent times to manage the tremors, but technology to assist with digital multimedia devices is limited. In this paper, we introduce TRECEY (TREmor Compensation using EYe-tracking), an algorithm to use eye-tracking data to stabilize the cursor movement of a multimedia remote controller. We tested the technology with 15 healthy volunteers using simulated tremors generated by a custom-built two axis vibration generator and validated the system with 10 patients with Parkinson’s disease. The results show a statistically significant improvement in performance in interaction with a digital multimedia interface using eye-tracking based stabilization.