A Study To Investigate The Effect Of Acupuncture Therapy By Using An Infrared Eye Tracker

ObjectiveAn infrared eye tracker was used to record saccade tracks of patients with pure ophthalmoplegia. To evaluate the effect of long-term acupuncture, the differences of saccade duration, amplitude and peek velocity were analyzed during the treament period.Methods1.30 ophthalmoplegia patients treated with acupuncture were random selected. Each time, before and after acupuncture treatment, an eye tracker was applied to record eye movement while patients were asked to perform a saccade task for 15 mins. The data, in terms of the variations of saccade duration, amplitude and peek velocity, in the early, middle and later stage of acupuncture treatment were analyzed. Then the improvement of the acupuncture treatment on eye movement was evaluated dynamically.2.30 adults with normal eye movement were recruited.15 mins of eye movement were recorded for each person during saccade task. A database of normal eye movement was established. The functional recovery of eye movement of each ophthalmoplegia patient during acupuncture treatment was evaluated by comparing their data with normal database.Results1. Acupuncture treatment can improve the eye movement function of patients with ophthalmoplegia.2. After received long-term acupuncture, the eye movement function of patients with ophthalmoplegia tended to be normal.Conclusion1. Long-term acupuncture treatment improved the conditions of patients with ophthalmoplegia.2. Recording and analyzing eye movement with an infrared eye tracker enable us to study the acupuncture treatment on patients with ophthalmoplegia objectively, accurately and effectively.