Cross-species Blink Characterisation Tool for the Analysis of Emerging Interventions for Overcoming Facial Paralysis

The loss of the ability to blink is considered the most severe consequence of facial nerve paralysis. Surgical techniques and implantable technologies continue to be developed to reanimate the eye; however, few analyse the full movement of blink when evaluating success. Here, we describe a method of taking high-quality, and high-speed video recordings of the eye, to non-invasively extract meaningful data about the dynamic movement of blinking. This can then be used to assess the effectiveness of a new technology in mimicking the natural movement. The tool was validated on humans (N=2, authors) before testing on an ovine recording (N=1), to confirm the cross-species utility of the tool, for use during preclinical development of technologies. It was found to be accurate and comprehensive, able to give insights on blinking in both human and ovine cases.