Determination of palpebral closure using a Hall sensor magnet pair.

A small device that can detect eyelid closure was designed using a Hall sensor and magnet. The ability of the sensor to differentiate blinks from saccadic motion is of vital interest in development of a device to alleviate complications of facial nerve paralysis. Twelve physically normal human subjects were used in this study. A small Hall sensor (3 x 2.5 x 1.1 mm), a device that detects magnetic fields, was attached to the lower eyelid near the lid margin, and an opposing small magnet (3 x 2 x 1 mm) was attached to the upper eyelid, also near the lid margin. Output potentials from the Hall sensor were monitored during eye blinks and saccadic eye movements to correlate sensor potentials with eye movements. Results indicate that the Hall sensor is effective at determining palpebral closure and discriminating eye closure from other eye movements. Therefore, we conclude that the Hall sensor is a reliable means for determining palpebral closure and is ideally suited for use in a facial prosthesis that uses the normal blink as a trigger to reanimate the contralateral paralyzed eyelid.