Scientists invent new sensing eye mask

From the team that invented pajamas for physiology sensory censorship at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, now comes a new, lightweight eye mask that can capture pulse, eye movement and sleep signals inconspicuously when worn in a daily environment.

Senior authors write in the magazine this week Mater are materials chemist and director of Wearable Electronics Lab Trisha L. Andrew, with computer scientist Deepak Ganesan and others. They point out that “being able to track heart rate and eye movement in a single portable device enables a host of sleep and psychosocial studies, in addition to improving the accuracy and usability of gaming and virtual reality headsets.” First author S. Zohreh Homayounfar, will present the findings this week at the online Fall Meeting of the American Chemical Society.

Andrews detecting health and behavioral signals on or near the face is challenging, Andrew notes, “because most people are really sensitive and reactive to objects placed on their face or head.” Ganesan adds that “until now, integrating many different sensing elements into one garment has been difficult, especially when it comes to small eye masks.”

They say that their lightweight, customizable eye mask called “Chesma” is equipped with two types of fabric electrodes that can simply be sewn onto a variety of pre-made clothing and further miniaturized, if desired. With this capability, they can integrate electrodes into a lightweight foam mask for recording electro-oculography and heart signals. Their design automatically places the electrodes on the face without any necessary adjustment.

As explained in a video made by Ph.D. student and first author, S. Zohreh Homayounfar, the mask contains five silver (Ag) thread-based hydrogel electrodes – tbbe tAgTrodes – needed for translating ion-based biological signals into an electric current, among other purposes. The researchers took advantage of a vapor phase deposition process to make the electrodes, including what they call a first-of-its-kind reusable and washable hydrogel component that distinguishes the tAgTrode from other equivalents.

Here, Andrew says she is proud to note that “part of the work that went into carrying out the filing process was done by Emerson T. Alexander, an exceptional student at Springfield Technical Community College,” who is contributing to a paid internship in her lab and funded by the program L’Oréal US For Women in Science.

The mask also includes one dust pressure sensor (PressION) positioned over an artery to monitor pulse as a proxy for cardiac function, with it fully connected to two microcontrollers with water-repellent silver wires as connectors. Another author, Ph.D. student Ali Kiaghadi, explains that “the electrode and sensor data must be communicated once purchased. Our design sends raw data to the cloud for processing and data visualization, so we can reduce the amount of instrumentation we have to include in the mask even though. “

The team tested the new eye mask on subjects while chewing, talking and during various head and eye movements. They used the same device for more than a year and after 15 washes found no degradation in performance. Homayounfar notes that the tAgTrode “overcomes all the disadvantages of commercial wet electrodes, such as aesthetic problems, inconvenience and wash stability, while maintaining high and constant signal-to-sound ratios in repeated, long-term applications.”

Andrew expects that the “unique bimodality” of Chesma – the combination of electrode network with the pressure sensor – will allow many new comprehensive studies to date, for research into sleep quality, sleep disorders, mental health, neurodegenerative diseases and schizophrenia, for example.