AI detects consciousness in coma patients 4-8 days before doctors

Researchers at Stony Brook University have developed an AI system called SeeMe that can detect signs of consciousness in comatose patients by analyzing microscopic facial movements invisible to doctors. The breakthrough technology spotted consciousness in patients an average of 4-8 days before clinicians could identify these signs, potentially transforming how medical teams approach treatment decisions and rehabilitation timing for brain injury patients.

What you should know: The AI system tracks facial movements at the level of individual pores to identify responses to simple commands like “open your eyes” or “stick out your tongue.”

• SeeMe detected eye-opening responses in 30 of 36 patients and mouth movements in 16 of 17 patients with analyzable videos.
• Five patients showed AI-detectable responses but never progressed to movements visible to doctors.
• Patients with larger and more frequent facial movements had better clinical outcomes, suggesting the technology could help predict recovery prospects.

The big picture: This research addresses a critical gap in detecting “covert consciousness”—when patients are mentally aware but physically unable to communicate.

• Previous studies using brain imaging found that one in four behaviorally unresponsive patients was covertly conscious.
• Traditional neuroimaging tests aren’t routinely performed because they’re time-consuming and require specialized skills.
• Doctors typically rely on subjective visual examinations to gauge consciousness levels.

Why this matters: Earlier detection of consciousness provides crucial information for families and doctors making difficult treatment decisions between palliative care and aggressive therapies.

• “Every day is potentially important” for those difficult decisions, says Jan Claassen, a neurologist at Columbia University who wasn’t involved in the research.
• Earlier detection allows care teams to start rehabilitation programs sooner, which research shows leads to greater improvements in physical function.

What they’re saying: The research team emphasizes the gradual nature of consciousness recovery and the potential for broader applications.

• “When somebody recovers consciousness, it’s almost like a flickering light bulb,” Claassen explains. “It doesn’t just come on or off.”
• “We were trying to find a way to quantify how conscious these patients are” using simple and readily available technology, says lead researcher Sima Mofakham, a computational neuroscientist at Stony Brook University.
• “What we found was: patients develop [small] movements before going to more obvious movements,” Mofakham notes.

What’s next: The research team plans to explore whether patients can answer yes-or-no questions using specific facial movements.

• “This has a big ethical implication” because people who cannot communicate “cannot participate in their care,” Mofakham says.
• The technology could potentially help patients currently in long-term care facilities who are presumed unconscious.
• The study only followed participants for six months after hospital discharge, leaving room for further research on long-term applications.