Multidisciplinary rehabilitation and eye tracker-assisted communication in locked-in syndrome: a case report and literature review.

BACKGROUND: Locked-in syndrome (LIS) is a rare and severe neurological condition characterized by quadriplegia and anarthria with preserved consciousness. Communication impairment is a major barrier to psychosocial adaptation and long-term rehabilitation. A new rehabilitation strategy is needed to restore multi-sensory impairments. CASE PRESENTATION: A patient underwent eye tracker therapy as part of a comprehensive multidisciplinary rehabilitation program following the diagnosis of LIS, which aimed to improve ocular scanning and gaze patterns to enable the patient to communicate using ocular motor signals. The effects and applications of eye-tracking in the neurorehabilitation of patients with Locked-In Syndrome (LIS) were synthesized in a brief review. After a three-month period of rehabilitation, the patient showed improved communication ability and better psychosocial adaptation, suggesting that eye-tracker assisted communication may be a useful adjunct within multidisciplinary rehabilitation for selected patients with LIS. CONCLUSION: This case highlighted the importance of eye trackers and multidisciplinary rehabilitation for LIS to address communication disorders and other dysfunctions in patients, which would help patients return to their families and society as soon as possible.