Abstract: An eye-tracking device and associated software together allow a patient to communicate with health-care providers (HCPs), family members, and other individuals via eye gaze technology. The system presents the patient with a hierarchical and intuitive set of graphical menus that, for example, allow the patient, via his or her eye-gaze location, to indicate basic needs (e.g., food, bathroom, bed adjustment), alert the nursing staff to an emergency situation, and/or indicate pain level associated with a specific part of the patient's body. In parallel, an administrator of the system may use traditional touch screen functionality to assist in calibration, select patient preferences, and otherwise configure the system for use. In yet another embodiment, improved systems and methods are provided for performing eye-tracking using a variety of machine learning techniques instead of, or in addition to, traditional geometric methods.