Implant developed to predict epilepsy attacks

06 May 2013 - 02:12 By ©The Telegraph
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Scan of a brain with epilepsy
Scan of a brain with epilepsy

Epileptics will receive warnings of a seizure from a new device that detects electrical signals in the brain, say Australian scientists.

The technology, which has been successfully tested in Melbourne, involves surgically implanting electrodes between the brain and the skull.

The signals from the electrodes are transmitted through another implant in the chest to a wireless hand-held device that alerts patients to the threat of a seizure.

The device has three alert levels - low, moderate and high risk - and beeps and vibrates to alert people of the threat.

The device was tested on 15 people aged between 20 and 62 and predicted high-level seizures 56% to 100% of the time for those who had used the device for more than four months. The average time from alert to seizure was 100 minutes.

Researchers said most seizures occurred following white-light or red-light alerts, which indicate a moderate to high risk.

The lead researcher, Professor Mark Cook, of the University of Melbourne, said the devices could improve the lives of epileptics who could not control seizures using drugs.

About a third of the 60million people around the world who have epilepsy are unable to use drug treatments.

"Knowing when a seizure might happen would dramatically improve the quality of life and independence of people with epilepsy, and potentially allow them to avoid dangerous situations such as driving or swimming. They would be able to take medication to stop seizures before they start instead of continuously, as at present," he said.

Cook said some patients had all their seizures detected using the device but the results were mixed.

"For some patients it works extremely well," he said. "For others, it might still need a bit of fine-tuning. So it's possible to keep developing the system that detects the seizures or predicts them, so it can be continuously improved."

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