THURSDAY, Sept. 21, 2006 (HealthDay News) -- A new device may be able to predict epileptic seizures before they become debilitating, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology report.
The device uses an existing epilepsy treatment known as a vagus nerve stimulator (VNS), which is used in epileptic patients who do not respond to anticonvulsant medications. The VNS works by implanting a defibrillator under the patient's collar bone to stimulate the left vagus nerve about every five minutes, which has been shown to help reduce the frequency and severity of seizures.
The new technology combines the VNS with a detector that measures brain activity to predict when a seizure is about to occur. When the device senses an upcoming seizure, it activates the VNS in hopes of halting the seizure before it starts.
The device was designed so it could be programmed to measure each individual's brain activity patterns to determine what the signals of an impending seizure look like for each patient.
"It's quite tricky to try to detect very early signs of seizures because there are abnormal electrical signals that don't evolve into seizures," John Guttag, MIT's Dugald C. Jackson Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, said in a prepared statement. "If we can learn what the right profile is for an individual, we can build a seizure onset detector that works really well for that person."
The new device was described in the August issue of Epilepsy & Behavior.
More information
The Epilepsy Foundation has more facts about epilepsy.
