METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF VISUAL MOTOR RESPONSE
A method is presented to address quantitative assessment of visual motor response in a subject, where the method comprises the steps of: ( 1 ) presenting at least one scene to a subject on a display; ( 2 ) modulating the contrast of a predetermined section of the scene; ( 3 ) moving the predetermined section relative to the scene with the movement being tracked by the subject via at least one input device; ( 4 ) measuring a kinematic parameter of the tracked movement; ( 5 ) quantitatively refining the tracked movement; ( 6 ) determining the relationship between at least one of the scene and the quantitatively refined tracked movement; ( 7 ) adjusting the modulated contrast relative to the quantitatively refined tracked movement; ( 8 ) calculating a critical threshold parameter for the subject; and ( 9 ) recording a critical threshold parameter onto a tangible computer readable medium. An apparatus for quantitative assessment of visual motor response of a subject comprising a display device, an input device, a control device, and a tangible computer readable medium. In its simplest sense, a quantitative assessment profile of visual motor capacity by psychophysical responses is generated on a tangible computer readable medium.
1 . A method for assessment of visual motor response of a subject, said method comprising the steps of:
presenting at least one scene to said subject on a display, said scene comprising a plurality of elements and a background;
modulating the contrast of a predetermined section of said scene, said modulated contrast being different from that of said background;
moving said predetermined section relative to said scene, said movement being tracked by said subject via at least one input device;
measuring a kinematic parameter of said tracked movement;
quantitatively refining said tracked movement;
determining the relationship between at least one of said scene and quantitatively refined tracked movement;
adjusting said modulated contrast relative to said quantitatively refined tracked movement;
calculating a critical threshold parameter for said subject; and
recording said critical threshold parameter onto a tangible computer readable medium.
2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising at least one of the additional steps of:
monitoring at least one response error associated with said quantitatively refined tracked movement relative to said movement of said predetermined section; and
measuring said response error relative to a predetermined threshold.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said scene maintains a pink noise spatial frequency composition.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said contrast is modulated to a higher contrast.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said contrast is modulated to a lower contrast.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said movement is of a random nature.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said movement is discontinuous.
8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said movement is continuous.
9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said movement is associated with change in velocity.
10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said predetermined section is moved to a random location on said scene.
11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said predetermined section is moved to a predetermined location on said scene.
12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said adjusted contrast further comprises a higher contrast.
13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said adjusted contrast further comprises a lower contrast.
14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said measured kinematic parameter further comprises displacement.
15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said measured kinematic parameter further comprises velocity.
16 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said measured kinematic parameter further comprises acceleration.
17 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said quantitative refinement is associated with saliency.
18 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said critical threshold parameter is implemented in a different functional impairment assessment test.
19 . An apparatus for quantitative assessment of visual motor response of a subject comprising:
a display for presenting at least one scene comprising a plurality of elements and a background;
an input device for tracking movement from said subject;
a control device, said control device capable of performing the following steps:
modulating the contrast of a predetermined section of said scene, said modulated contrast being different from that of said background;
moving said predetermined section relative to said scene, said movement being tracked by said subject via at least one input device;
measuring a kinematic parameter of said tracked movement;
quantitatively refining said tracked movement;
calculating the relationship between at least one of said scene and quantitatively refined tracked movement;
adjusting said modulated contrast relative to said quantitatively refined tracked movement; and
determining a critical threshold parameter for said subject; and
a tangible computer readable medium for recording said critical threshold parameter.
20 . The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein said display presents at least one contrast variation in said scene.
21 . The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein said control device adjusts the saliency associated with said scene.
22 . The apparatus of claim 19 wherein said control device adjusts the velocity associated with a predetermined section of said scene.
23 . A tangible computer readable medium, said tangible computer readable medium containing instructions comprising the steps of:
presenting at least one scene to said subject on a display, said scene comprising a plurality of elements and a background;
modulating the contrast of a predetermined section of said scene, said modulated contrast being different from that of said background;
moving said predetermined section relative to said scene, said movement being tracked by said subject via at least one input device;
measuring a kinematic parameter of said tracked movement;
quantitatively refining said tracked movement;
determining the relationship between at least one of said scene and quantitatively refined tracked movement;
adjusting said modulated contrast relative to said quantitatively refined tracked movement; and
calculating a critical threshold parameter for said subject.