NeuroFET
an insight into
the brain
A unique, non-invasive optical device for measuring eye movement as an objective biomarker of the neurological state of the brain
The Breakthrough in Rapid Brain Diagnosis

NeuroFET enables early diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases

Neurological changes in the brain often manifest as changes in ocular dynamics. Using data acquired with NeuroFET, our algorithms create a unique eye fingerprint for each patient and can track signs of neurodegenerative symptoms and their progression over time. We analyze results from patients with dementia, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s disease. Our innovation enables:

Sophisticated Optics

Faster than the tiniest involuntary eye movements

Thanks to sophisticated optical, synchronization, and control systems, combined with smart algorithms, our tracking system performs faster than the tiniest eye movements. We can see and quantify the smallest microsaccades, as well as drift and tremor movements. This unprecedented precision opens the door to finding unexplored relations between subtle changes in individual oculomotor characteristics in the course of neurodegenerative diseases. The critical component of the device is the ultrafast retinal-based eye tracking system (FET - FreezEye Tracker) [1].

Ultra Precision

Easy control and precise synchronization in psychophysical experiments

The device is equipped with a digital display to present visual tasks and a pupil camera for easy and fast positioning of a subject to assure data quality during the experimental session. Custom-designed electronics ensure precise synchronization of eye movement recording and task display, which is crucial in psychophysics experiments. The experiments can be easily designed by vision scientists and neurologists who already use contemporary eye trackers in research and clinical studies, as well as new users interested in eye tracking.

Non-Invasive, Reproducible Examination

The NeuroFET is free of the problem of sub-optimal initial set up and calibration procedure

In examining elders and people with disabilities, special effort was made to make it as comfortable as possible and reduce the time required for the experimental session. In contrast to available video eye trackers, the NeuroFET is free of the problem of sub-optimal initial set up and calibration procedure. The key feature is that the wavelength of light used for imaging the eye is completely invisible to the subject, so the psychophysical experiments can be performed without any undesired interference from the tracker. We use a freeware PsychoPy environment to create the psychophysical experiments, and custom-designed experiments can also be easily added by any user.

The Perfectly Tailored Software

Machine learning-based algorithms

Since our system is equipped with the most modern components and optical techniques, we have no choice but to use equally modern algorithms. We employ machine learning to detect drift, microsaccades, saccades, and other events in eye movements. Using a combination of hand-crafted and in-depth features extracted from these events, we apply AI for differential disease diagnosis.

Trials with Patients

Verification & Clinical Validation

Having received approval from the Bioethics Committee, we began measurements with our first prototype. We tested it on over 100 people, including trials with patients and controls.

  • We have captured the specificity of retinal eye tracking. It turns out that eye movement behavior is like a fingerprint, characteristic of each individual.
  • We compared patients with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease and glaucoma with control patients. We observed more fixation instability in neurodegenerative diseases.
  • We benchmarked NeuroFET against the most advanced pupil tracker used in scientific research. NeuroFET has up to 6x higher resolution and can detect 20x smaller microsaccades.
  • We are looking at ocular diseases such as glaucoma or retinal degeneration and how they affect eye movements. It is necessary to consider this impact from the neuro biomarkers.

Research

1. M. M. Bartuzel, K. Wróbel, S. Tamborski, M. Meina, M. Nowakowski, K. Dalasiński, A. Szkulmowska and M. Szkulmowski
High-resolution, ultrafast, wide-field retinal eye-tracking for enhanced quantification of fixational and saccadic motion
Biomed Opt Express 11, 3164-3180 (2020).

2. M. Meina, P. Stremplewski, C. Lopez-Mariscal, S. Tamborski, M. M.
Bartuzel, and M. Szkulmowski
Accurate calibration of beam trajectories in scanning optical imaging systems
Optics Letters 46, 5377-5380 (2021)

3. I. Ziv, M. Meina, S. Tamborski, J. Gorgol, M. Szkulmowski, K. Holmqvist, Y. Bonneh
Stimulus-induced drift inhibition revealed by retinal eye-tracking>
submitted to Behavior Research Methods

Cooperate with Us

Become our partner

If you are a neurologist, geriatrician, psychiatrist, or ophthalmologist and:

Contact Us

We can support your research with our NeuroFET method and our expertise

Super matching:

  • Neurological diseases with motor and cognitive expression
  • Psychiatric diseases or treatments with motor expression
  • Access to already formed cohorts of neurological patients and control groups

Anna Szkulmowska

Ph.D., CEO

Our Team

Founders

Anna Szkulmowska

Ph.D., CEO

15+ years in R&D

Maciej Nowakowski

Ph.D.

optical engineer with industry experience

Maciej Szkulmowski

prof., CSO

broad scientific collaboration

Jakub Lipiński

Business Development

serial entrepreneur, investor and mentor