Assessment of Combination of Automated Pupillometry and Heart Rate Variability to Detect Driving Fatigue

Objectives Approximately 20~30% of all traffic accidents are caused by fatigue driving. However, limited practicability remains a barrier for the real application of available techniques to detect driving fatigue. Use of pupillary light reflex (PLR) may be potentially effective for driving fatigue detection. Methods A 90 min monotonous simulated driving task was utilized to induce driving fatigue. During the task, PLR measurements were performed at baseline and at an interval of 30 min. Subjective rating scales, heart rate variability (HRV) were monitored simultaneously. Results Thirty-two healthy volunteers in China participated in our study. Based on the results of subjective evaluation and behavioral performances, driving fatigue was verified to be successfully induced by a simulated driving task. Significant variations of PLR and HRV parameters were observed, which also showed significant relevance with the change in Karolinska Sleepiness Scale at several timepoints (| r | = 0.55 ~ 0.72, P 0.05). Conclusions Pupillary light reflex variation may be a potential indicator in the detection of driving fatigue, achieving a comparative performance compared with the combination with heart rate variability. Further work may be involved in developing a commercialized driving fatigue detection system based on pupillary parameters

Audiology · Blood pressure · Driving simulation · Driving simulator · Heart rate · Heart rate variability · Physical medicine and rehabilitation · Pupil · Pupillary light reflex · Pupillometry · Rating scale · Simulation · Computer Science · Emotion and Mood Recognition · Engineering · Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic Control · Medicine · Psychology · Sleep and Work-Related Fatigue · Internal Medicine