Eye–Hand Coordination Rehabilitation Research | NYU Langone Health

Rusk Rehabilitation Research Eye–Hand Coordination Rehabilitation Research

Eye–Hand Coordination Rehabilitation Research

At NYU Langone’s Rusk Rehabilitation, John-Ross (J.R.) Rizzo, MD, MSCI, is studying interactions between the neural codes that plan eye and arm movements so he can develop functional visual rehabilitation programs to improve patient outcomes.

As director of Rusk Rehabilitation’s Visuomotor Integration Laboratory, Dr. Rizzo and his team have identified the individual components of eye–hand control.

A clearer understanding of the interrelationship between eye and arm movements has enabled his labs to develop technology designed to train eye–hand coordination. Dr. Rizzo and team then looked at patients who had a stroke to see if this new technology improved eye–hand coordination after finding that their ability to accurately reach for objects was impaired.

Similar to a video game, the technology provides patients with visuospatial cues in real time. As patients gaze at an object across the table and reach for it, the technology takes precise measurements and detects when their gaze is not aligned with the center of the target. The technology then cues patients to pay attention to their eye movements, in effect, serving as a guidance system to enable patients to resynchronize their movements and improve accuracy.

The Visuomotor Integration Laboratory

The Visuomotor Integration Laboratory’s mission is to understand how eye control is integrated with arm control. This unprecedented step forward in the vastly underserved field of physiatric visual rehabilitation holds significant promise for functional independence for the visually, motorically, or visuomotorically impaired.

The laboratory serves people with acquired brain injury, including traumatic brain injury and cerebrovascular accident, or stroke, and works to provide a better understanding of dyssynergia or motor incoordination as it relates to both eye and limb control. Focusing on the sensorimotor limitations in acquired brain injury as it interfaces with vision and upper extremity task demands, the laboratory hopes to unlock diagnostic and therapeutic insights into motor recovery and rehabilitation.

Recent Publications

Reducing barriers through education: A scoping review calling for structured disability curricula in surgical training programs

Keegan, Grace; Rizzo, John-Ross; Gonzalez, Cristina M; Joseph, Kathie-Ann

American journal of surgery. 2025 Jan ; 239:116062

Navigation Training for Persons With Visual Disability Through Multisensory Assistive Technology: Mixed Methods Experimental Study

Ricci, Fabiana Sofia; Liguori, Lorenzo; Palermo, Eduardo; Rizzo, John-Ross; Porfiri, Maurizio

JMIR rehabilitation & assistive technologies. 2024 Nov 18; 11:e55776

The criticality of reasonable accommodations: A scoping review revealing gaps in care for patients with blindness and low vision

Keegan, Grace; Rizzo, John-Ross; Morris, Megan A; Joseph, Kathie-Ann

American journal of surgery. 2024 Nov 13; 241:116085

Evaluating the efficacy of UNav: A computer vision-based navigation aid for persons with blindness or low vision

Yang, Anbang; Tamkittikhun, Nattachart; Hamilton-Fletcher, Giles; Ramdhanie, Vinay; Vu, Thu; Beheshti, Mahya; Hudson, Todd; Vedanthan, Rajesh; Riewpaiboon, Wachara; Mongkolwat, Pattanasak; Feng, Chen; Rizzo, John-Ross

Assistive technology. 2024 Aug 13; 1-15

A Multi-Modal Foundation Model to Assist People with Blindness and Low Vision in Environmental Interaction

Hao, Yu; Yang, Fan; Huang, Hao; Yuan, Shuaihang; Rangan, Sundeep; Rizzo, John-Ross; Wang, Yao; Fang, Yi

Journal of imaging. 2024 Apr 26; 10:

Disparities in Care for Surgical Patients with Blindness and Low Vision: A Call for Inclusive Wound Care Strategies in the Post-Operative Period

Keegan, Grace; Rizzo, John-Ross; Morris, Megan A; Panarelli, Joseph; Joseph, Kathie-Ann

Annals of surgery. 2024 Apr 25;

Feasibility and Clinician Perspectives of the Visual Symptoms and Signs Screen: A Multisite Pilot Study

Roberts, Pamela S.; Wertheimer, Jeffrey; Ouellette, Debra; Hreha, Kimberly; Watters, Kelsey; Fielder, Jaimee; Graf, Min Jeong P.; Weden, Kathleen M.; Rizzo, John Ross

Topics in geriatric rehabilitation. 2024 Jan 01; 40:69-76

Accuracy and Usability of Smartphone-Based Distance Estimation Approaches for Visual Assistive Technology Development

Hamilton-Fletcher, Giles; Liu, Mingxin; Sheng, Diwei; Feng, Chen; Hudson, Todd E; Rizzo, John-Ross; Chan, Kevin C

IEEE open journal of engineering in medicine & biology. 2024 Mar ; 5:54-58