Developing a Non-Invasive Eye Tracking Screening Tool for early Detection of Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a common neurodegenerative condition that impairs daily functioning, memory, and cognition. The ability to treat and manage the disease effectively depends on early detection, but current diagnostic techniques frequently fall short of this goal. This study assesses the potential of eye tracking parameters, remarkably smooth pursuit amplitude, and fixation stability, as biomarkers for AD screening in the early-mid stages to address this issue. A visual tracking task is used in the study to measure participants' fixation stability and smooth pursuit amplitude. The sample includes individuals diagnosed with AD and healthy older adults, to compare eye-tracking parameters between the two groups. The study's findings show that smooth pursuit amplitude and fixation stability are significantly different between AD and healthy controls. This study highlights the importance of investigating novel and non-invasive methods for early detection of AD and establishes the foundation for further investigations in this area. The results of this study will help develop a cost-effective screening tool that is easily accessible for early-stage AD. Importantly, the study reported that the AUC of the AD group was 0.966 and the AUC of the control group was 0.869, with a sensitivity of 93% and specificity of 100%, and an overall accuracy of 96.5%. The promising findings of this study will help create a low-cost screening tool that is easily accessible for AD in its early stages.