System for traumatic brain injury detection using oculomotor tests

1. An apparatus for quantifying a level of neurological impairment comprising:

a portable housing;

a microcontroller coupled to the housing;

a light source coupled to an interior of the housing and operably coupled to the microcontroller; and

a first camera and a second camera coupled to the interior of the housing and operably coupled to the microcontroller, wherein:

the housing is adapted to fit over a user's eyes and block external light from reaching eyes of a user;

the light source is operable to emit light in a field of vision of the user, the field of vision including: a location;

the first camera is operable to record a direction, a movement, and a dilation of a right pupil of the user;

the second camera is operable to record a direction, a movement, and a dilation of a left pupil of the user; and

the microcontroller is configured to perform a smooth pursuit with error correction task, the smooth pursuit with error correction task including the microcontroller:

controlling the light source to flash in a first pattern predictably moving in a first direction;

controlling the light source to flash in a second pattern moving in a second direction that is the reverse of the first direction at a point in time unpredictable by the user after tracking the first pattern, wherein the second pattern interrupts the first pattern at the point in time to cause the user to temporarily lose track of the light source; and

quantifying the level of neurological impairment based upon at least one of: the recorded direction, movement, or dilation, of the right and left pupils of the user while tracking the first pattern and the second pattern.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the microcontroller is further configured to control movement of the light source at a velocity of less than thirty degrees per second during the smooth pursuit with error correction task.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the smooth pursuit with error correction task further includes the microcontroller measuring the amount of time it takes the user to correctly track the light source when the light source is flashed in the second pattern.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the microcontroller is further configured to perform a pupil reflex task, the pupil reflex task including the microcontroller:

controlling the light source to emit a first flash of light into a right eye of the user;

tracking a movement of the user's left and right pupils for at least two seconds after the first flash;

controlling the light source to emit a second flash of light in a left eye of the user;

tracking a movement of the user's left and right pupils for at least two seconds after the second flash; and

quantifying the level of impairment based upon the tracked movements of the user's left and right pupils.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising an external display coupled to an exterior of the housing, wherein the external display is operable to display a numeric score indicative of the quantified level of impairment.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first and second cameras are operable to detect infrared light.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the light source comprises LEDs operable to emit light having a wavelength of about 420-490 nm.

8. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the microcontroller tracking during the pupil reflex task includes the microcontroller:

controlling the first camera to record a direction, a movement, and a pupillary response of a right pupil of the user for at least two seconds; and

controlling the second camera to record a direction, a movement, and a pupillary response of a left pupil of the user for at least two seconds.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the pupillary response of the right and left pupils comprise a percent dilation or constriction, a time constant for dilation or constriction, a duration of dilation or constriction, or a rate of dilation or constriction.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the apparatus is configured to measure an orientation of a right pupil of the user and an orientation of a left pupil of the user.

11. A method of quantifying a level of neurological impairment after an acute neurological event, the method comprising:

emitting a first flash of one of: blue, red, or white light, into only a user's left eye;

tracking a movement of a user's left and right pupils for at least two seconds after the first flash;

emitting a second flash of one of: blue, red, or white light, into only a user's right eye;

tracking a movement of the user's left and right pupils for at least two seconds after the second flash;

calculating an event numeric score based upon a combination of the tracked movements of the user's left and right pupils, wherein the tracked movements include: contraction amplitude, latency, contraction velocity, and dilation velocity, of both the left and right pupils in response to both the first flash and the second flash; and

comparing the event numeric score to a baseline numeric score acquired for the user prior to the acute neurological event, wherein a change between the event numeric score and the baseline numeric score is indicative of the level of impairment caused by the acute neurological event.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the first and second flashes have an intensity of up to about 200 foot candles and a duration of up to about 10 seconds.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the movement of the user's left and right pupils are tracked for approximately three seconds, and wherein the tracked movements further include orientations of both the left and right pupils in response to both the first flash and the second flash.

14. The method of claim 11 wherein the movement of the user's left and right pupils are tracked using infrared light.

15. The method of claim 11 , further comprising adapting a housing to fit over the user's right and left eyes and block external light from reaching the user's right and left eyes prior to emitting the first and second flashes.

16. A method of quantifying a level of neurological impairment, the method comprising:

emitting a first flash of light into a user's eye;

measuring a pupil diameter of the user's eye at a predetermined time after termination of the first flash;

waiting until the pupil diameter of the user's eye returns to a steady state dark adaptation diameter after the first flash;

emitting a second flash of light photopically matched with the first flash into the user's eye after the pupil diameter of the user's eye has returned to the steady state dark adaptation diameter;

measuring the pupil diameter of the user's eye at the predetermined time after termination of the second flash, wherein the predetermined time is at least four seconds and is selected independent of the user's eye's reaction to either the first flash or the second flash; and

calculating an isolated melanopsin response by comparing the pupil diameter measured at the predetermined time after termination of the second flash with the pupil diameter measured at the predetermined time after termination of the first flash, wherein one of the first flash or second flash is blue light and the other of the first flash or the second flash is one of: red or white light.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising adapting a housing to fit over the user's eyes and block external light from reaching the user's eyes.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the pupil diameters are measured at a time approximately six seconds after each of the first flash and the second flash.

19. The method of claim 16 , wherein the other of the first flash or the second flash is red light.

20. The method of claim 11 , wherein each of the emitting and tracking acts are repeated for each of the one of: blue, red, and white light, and wherein the method further comprises isolating a location of a disturbance to the pupil pathway using the tracked movements of the user's left and right pupils.