Detection and Characterization of the Sclera - Evaluation of Eye Gestural Reactions to Auditory Stimuli

Abstract

[Absctract]: Hearing assessment becomes a challenge for the audiologists when there are severe difficulties in the communication with the patient. This methodology is aimed at facilitating the audiological evaluation of the patient when cognitive decline, or other communication disorders, complicate the necessary interaction between patient and audiologist for the proper development of the test. In these cases, the audiologist must focus his attention on the detection of spontaneous and unconscious reactions that tend to occur in the eye region of the patient, expressed in most cases as changes in the gaze direction. In this paper, the tracking of the gaze direction is addressed by the study of the sclera, the white area of the eye. The movement is identified and characterized in order to determine whether or not a positive reaction to the auditory stimuli has occurred, so the hearing of the patients can be correctly assessed.