Saccadic eye movements in childhood: A pilot study comparing clinical eye tracker software and the NSUCO

Bilbao, Carmen (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; Carrera, Alba ; Hernández-Andrés, Rosa ; Piñero, David P. ; Remón Martín, Laura (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; López-de-la-Fuente, María José (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; Casanovas-Marsal, Josep-Oriol

Resumen: Purpose: To explore differences in saccadic eye movements between children with oculomotor dysfunction and those in a control group across three age groups, using two assessment methods: the subjective Northeastern State University College of Optometry (NSUCO) Oculomotor test and objective analysis with the Tobii Eye X Eye Tracker (Tobii Eye X, Tobii, Stockholm, Sweden).
Methods: This study included 31 children (ages 7–13) diagnosed with oculomotor dysfunction and 16 age-matched children in the control group. Participants were divided into three age groups: group 1 (7–8 years), group 2 (9–11 years), and group 3 (12–13 years). Saccadic eye movements were evaluated and compared using two methods: the NSUCO test and the Tobii Eye X eye tracker, along with specialized software analysis (Thomson Software Solutions, Welham Green, UK)
Results: Children in the oculomotor dysfunction group obtained significantly lower NSUCO scores (p < 0.001) compared to the control group. Regarding eye tracking analyses, a significantly higher number of hypometric saccades were found in oculomotor dysfunction group (p ≤ 0.044). Additionally, in this group a significantly higher percentage of regressions was observed for a 1-second stimulus presentation interval (p = 0.012). Significant correlations were found between different NSUCO scores and the percentage of regressions, the number of completed saccades and the number of hypometric saccades.
Conclusion: The presence of hypometric saccades and regressions appears to be a distinguishing characteristic of children with oculomotor dysfunction, detectable through both objective eye tracking analysis and the subjective NSUCO test, which can be easily implemented in clinical settings.

Idioma: Inglés

DOI: 10.1016/j.optom.2025.100565

Año: 2025

Publicado en: Journal of Optometry 18, 4 (2025), 100565 [11 pp.]
ISSN: 1888-4296

Tipo y forma: Article (Published version)

Área (Departamento): Área Fisioterapia (Dpto. Fisiatría y Enfermería)
Área (Departamento): Área Óptica (Dpto. Física Aplicada)