Ocular Microtremor for the continuous assessment of sedation
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Non-Invasive Ocular-Microtremor for the Continuous Assessment of Sedation
IRAS ID
328770
Contact name
Ahmed Al-Hindawi
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London Hospital
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 5 days
Research summary
Patients in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) require sedation. Over-sedation results in increased morbidity and mortality and the current techniques are manual, laborious, and subjective. Electroencephalogram (EEG) techniques have been shown to be not suitable for this task. Thus, there is still a pressing need for a device to automate this in an objective measure.
Ocular Microtremor (OMT) is a high frequency, low amplitude, tremor of the eyeball that originates from the brainstem due to noise from higher cortical centers. It has been shown that the frequency of this tremor reduces during sedation. However, current detection techniques rely on the placement of a piezo-electric crystal direct on the eyeball.
We propose to use Electro-oculograph (EOG) for the detection of OMT - this is a non-invasive technique that uses electrodes placed on the skin surrounding the face. We aim to then convert the OMT detection by EOG to a sedation score suitable for use in ICU.
We aim to iteratively recruit patients, in a step-wise fashion, undergoing anaesthesia to validate the EOG measure of OMT. Each step will iteratively improve the signal acquisition until confidence in the device is grounded. We then seek to move this device onto ICU to convert the detected OMT to a continuous automated objective sedation score.
REC name
London - Queen Square Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/LO/0877
Date of REC Opinion
5 Jan 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion