Tracking Tiny Facial Movements Could Offer a New Way to Measure Pain

Rutgers sought to move beyond a one-size-fits-all scale to provide a biological basis for assessing pain

Researchers at Rutgers University-New Brunswick are working to measure pain more accurately beyond the single, subjective question patients are often asked: “On a scale of 1 to 10, how bad is your pain?”

In their new study, published in Frontiers in Neuroscience, the researchers suggest a more precise way to quantify this discomfort by tracking tiny facial micromovement spikes. These rapid, high-speed motor fluctuations—too subtle for the human eye to notice—offer objective clues to what an individual is experiencing, particularly when they cannot articulate their level of distress.

Read more here: https://www.rutgers.edu/news/tracking-tiny-facial-movements-could-offer-new-way-measure-pain