Electrooculography

Oculomotor is associated with the movements of the eye. These eye movements are both efferent and afferent in nature as they are regulated by one of the significant cranial nerves called the oculomotor nerve. These movements are recorded by using a technique called electrooculography. In most cases, this instrument is used to detect the blink amplitude and also drowsiness associated conditions. The relationship between the electrode potentials of the instrument and eye movements was first discovered and explained in 1849 by Du Bios Reymond. Significant research on this concept lead to the discovery of potential differences that exist between the cornea and retina of the eye.

The electro-oculography technique plays a significant role in the determination of resting potential of the eye. Over the years this technique has been extensively applied to identify the cause of drowsiness which is responsible for many accidents. The movements of the eye such as left, right, up and down are related to signal transmission mechanism which is powered by the brain through the oculomotor nerve. The electrooculography method detects the depolarization and repolarization differences caused both in the retina and cornea as a sequence which looking at an image and responding to it subsequently. These mechanisms are used to create a human computer interface system.

The tracking system was developed by administering the electrooculography technique. This system evaluates the distance of the person's gaze. The eye tracking and blink examinations performed using this method are essential in the determination of efferent and afferent activity of the nerves associated with the brain. The mechanism and categorization of the eye blink is also performed as it determines the neuromuscular activity of the respective system. An important observation in this evaluation is the measure of spontaneous blink time period. Under normal conditions spontaneous blinks are quick and are related to the reflex response. The duration of this blink is measured by using electrooculography to identify the presence of underlying Neuromuscular conditions. The electrooculogram values with respect to the movements of the eyes are linear in nature and hence the detection of wave form is significant.

In some cases, the electrooculography technique is used to determine the extent of alertness in person pertaining to eye movements and response to external stimuli. Electrodes are placed on the forehead and facial areas of the person to detect the activity of the oculomotor response. The activity of the eye in relation to the graph displayed on the monitor varies in different movements of the eye.