Facial paralysis is the inability to move facial muscles thereby impairing the ability to blink and make facial expressions. Depending on the localization of the nerve malfunction it is subcategorised into central or peripheral and is usually unilateral. This leads to health deficits stemming from corneal dryness and social ostracization. Objective: Electrical stimulation shows promise as a method through which to restore the blink function and as a result improve eye health. However, it is unknown whether a real-time, myoelectrically controlled, neurostimulating device can be used as assistance to this pathological condition. Approach: We developed NEURO-BLINK, a wearable robotic system, that can detect the volitional healthy contralateral blink through electromyography and electrically stimulate the impaired subcutaneous facial nerve and orbicularis oculi muscle to compensate for lost blink function. Alongside the system, we developed a method to evaluate optimal electrode placement through the relationship between blink amplitude and injected charge. Main results: Ten patients with unilateral facial palsy were enrolled in the NEURO-BLINK study, with eight completing testing under two conditions. (1) where the stimulation was cued with an auditory signal (i.e. paced controlled) and (2) synchronized with the natural blink (i.e. myoelectrically controlled). In both scenarios, overall eye closure (distance between eyelids) and cornea coverage measured with high FPS video were found to significantly improve when measured in real-time, while no significant clinical changes were found immediately after use. Significance: This work takes steps towards the development of a portable medical device for blink restoration and facial stimulation which has the potential to improve long-term ocular health.

中文翻译：

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仿生眨眼改善单侧面瘫患者的实时闭眼能力

面瘫是指面部肌肉无法移动，从而损害眨眼和做出面部表情的能力。根据神经功能障碍的定位，它被分为中枢性或外周性，并且通常是单侧的。这导致因角膜干燥和社会排斥而导致的健康缺陷。客观的：电刺激有望成为恢复眨眼功能并改善眼睛健康的方法。然而，尚不清楚是否可以使用实时肌电控制神经刺激装置来辅助这种病理状况。方法：我们开发了 NEURO-BLINK，一种可穿戴机器人系统，可以通过肌电图检测健康对侧眨眼的意志，并电刺激受损的皮下面神经和眼轮匝肌，以补偿失去的眨眼功能。除了该系统之外，我们还开发了一种通过眨眼幅度和注入电荷之间的关系来评估最佳电极放置的方法。主要结果： 10 名单侧面瘫患者参加了 NEURO-BLINK 研究，其中 8 名患者在两种条件下完成了测试。 (1) 用听觉信号提示刺激（即节奏控制）和 (2) 与自然眨眼同步（即肌电控制）。在这两种情况下，通过高 FPS 视频测量的整体眼睛闭合度（眼睑之间的距离）和角膜覆盖率在实时测量时均显着改善，而在使用后立即没有发现显着的临床变化。意义：这项工作朝着开发用于眨眼恢复和面部刺激的便携式医疗设备迈出了一步，该设备有可能改善长期眼部健康。