Insights from the eyes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the intersection between eye-tracking and artificial intelligence in dementia.

Abstract

Objectives: Dementia can change oculomotor behavior, which is detectable through eye-tracking. This study aims to systematically review and conduct a meta-analysis of current literature on the intersection between eye-tracking and artificial intelligence (AI) in detecting dementia.

Method: PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane, and IEEE databases were searched up to July 2023. All types of studies that utilized eye-tracking and AI to detect dementia and reported the performance metrics, were included. Data on the dementia type, performance, artificial intelligence, and eye-tracking paradigms were extracted. The registered protocol is available online on PROSPERO (ID: CRD42023451996).

Results: Nine studies were finally included with a sample size ranging from 57 to 583 participants. Alzheimer's disease (AD) was the most common dementia type. Six studies used a machine learning model while three used a deep learning model. Meta-analysis revealed the accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of using eye-tracking and artificial intelligence in detecting dementia, 88% [95% CI (83%-92%)], 85% [95% CI (75%-93%)], and 86% [95% CI (79%-93%)], respectively.

Conclusion: Eye-tracking coupled with AI revealed promising results in terms of dementia detection. Further studies must incorporate larger sample sizes, standardized guidelines, and include other dementia types.