METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF FUNCTIONAL IMPAIRMENT
A method is presented to address quantitative assessment of functional impairment in a subject, where the method comprises the steps of: ( 1 ) presenting a plurality of tests to a subject on a display, the plurality of tests comprising a series of scenes, the scene comprising at least one stimulus, wherein the scene may be associated with visual, auditory, and tactile stimulus arrays; ( 2 ) modulating at least one spatial characteristic of at least one stimulus; ( 3 ) receiving feedback from the subject via at least one input device; ( 4 ) quantitatively refining the scene relative to the received feedback; ( 5 ) calculating the relationship between at least one of the scene, the stimulus, and the quantitatively refined scene; ( 6 ) adjusting the scene relative to the calculated relationship; ( 7 ) determining equilibrated scene parameter of the subject; ( 8 ) recording the equilibrated scene parameter onto a tangible computer readable medium; ( 9 ) generating at least one diagnosis to the functional impairment associated with the equilibrated scene parameter; ( 10 ) recommending at least one treatment to the subject. An apparatus for quantitative assessment of functional impairment in a subject comprising an input device, a display device, a control device, and a tangible computer readable medium. A quantitative assessment profile of functional impairment by continuous modulation of specific perceptual domains on a stimulus and generating psychophysical responses on a tangible computer readable medium.
1 . A method for quantitative assessment of functional impairment in a subject, said method comprising the steps of:
presenting a plurality of tests to said subject on a display, said plurality of tests comprising a series of scenes, said scene comprising at least one stimulus;
modulating at least one spatial characteristic of at least one stimulus;
receiving feedback from said subject via at least one input device;
quantitatively refining said scene relative to said received feedback;
calculating the relationship between at least one of said scene, said stimulus, and said quantitatively refined scene;
adjusting said scene relative to said calculated relationship;
determining an equilibrated scene parameter of said subject;
recording said equilibrated scene parameter onto a tangible computer readable medium;
generating at least one diagnosis to said functional impairment associated with said equilibrated scene parameter; and
recommending at least one treatment to said subject.
2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising at least one of the additional steps of:
monitoring at least one response error from said subject; and
measuring said response error relative to a predetermined threshold.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said spatial characteristic is varied continuously.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said spatial characteristic is varied discontinuously.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said spatial characteristic is associated with a change in position.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein spatial characteristic is associated with a change in velocity.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said adjusted stimulus further comprises at least one motion variation.
8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said adjusted stimulus further comprises at least one contrast variation.
9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said adjusted stimulus further comprises at least one size variation.
10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said adjusted stimulus further comprises at least one shape variation.
11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said scene in said displayed test further comprises at least one orientation variation.
12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said functional impairment comprises at least one of the following:
dementia;
Alzheimer's Disease;
Parkinson's Disease;
autism;
schizophrenia;
Asperger's Syndrome; and
Williams Syndrome.
13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said functional impairment comprises a neurological disorder.
14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said subject is selected from a group consisting essentially of a human subject, an animal subject, or a robotic subject.
15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said adjusted stimulus is associated with saliency.
16 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said equilibrated scene parameter is implemented in a different functional impairment assessment test.
17 . An apparatus for quantitative assessment of functional impairment in a subject comprising:
a display for presenting a plurality of tests, said plurality of tests comprising a series of scenes, said scene comprising at least one stimulus;
an input device for receiving feedback data from said subject;
a control device, said control device capable of performing the following steps:
modulating at least one spatial characteristic of at least one stimulus;
receiving feedback from said subject via at least one input device;
quantitatively refining said scene relative to said received feedback;
calculating the relationship between at least one of said scene, said stimulus, and said quantitatively refined scene;
adjusting said scene relative to said calculated relationship; and
determining an equilibrated scene parameter of said subject; and
a tangible computer readable medium for recording said equilibrated scene parameter.
18 . The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein said display presents at least one spatial variation in said stimulus.
19 . The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein said display presents at least one temporal variation in said stimulus.
20 . A tangible computer readable medium, said tangible computer readable medium containing instructions comprising the steps of:
presenting a plurality of tests to said subject on a display, said plurality of tests comprising a series of scenes, said scene comprising at least one stimulus;
modulating at least one spatial characteristic of at least one stimulus;
receiving feedback from said subject via at least one input device;
quantitatively refining said scene relative to said received feedback;
calculating the relationship between at least one of said scene, said stimulus, and said quantitatively refined scene;
adjusting said scene relative to said calculated relationship;
determining an equilibrated scene parameter of said subject;
generating at least one diagnosis to said functional impairment associated with said equilibrated scene parameter; and
recommending at least one treatment to said subject.