Abstract
A device capable of detecting seizures and alerting caregivers would be a major advance for epilepsy management, and could be used to guide early intervention and prevent seizure-related injuries. The objective of this work was to evaluate a seizure advisory system (SAS) that alerts caregivers of seizures in canines with naturally occurring epilepsy. Four dogs with epilepsy were implanted with a SAS that wirelessly transmits continuous intracranial EEG (iEEG) to an external device embedded with a seizure detection algorithm and the capability to alert caregivers. In this study a veterinarian was alerted by automated text message if prolonged or repetitive seizures occurred, and a rescue therapy protocol was implemented. The performance of the SAS caregiver alert was evaluated over the course of 8 weeks. Following discontinuation of antiepileptic drugs, the dogs experienced spontaneous unprovoked partial seizures that secondarily generalized. Three prolonged or repetitive seizure episodes occurred in 2 of the dogs. On each occasion, the SAS caregiver alert successfully alerted an on call veterinarian who confirmed the seizure activity via remote video-monitoring. A rescue medication was then administered and the seizures were aborted. This study demonstrates the feasibility of a SAS to alert caregivers to the occurrence of prolonged or repetitive seizures and enables rescue medications to be delivered in a timely manner. The SAS may improve the management of human epilepsy by alerting caregivers of seizures, enabling early interventions, and potentially improving outcomes and quality of life of patients and caregivers.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 456-460 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Epilepsy Research |
| Volume | 106 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Oct 2013 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Dr. Litt was also supported by Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy and the Mirowski Family Foundation. This work was supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) NS073557 (U01) .
Funding Information:
Dr. Worrell has served as a paid consultant for Neurovista and Medtronic. Dr. Cloyd has served as a paid consultant for Allergan, Lundbeck, Upsher-Smith Laboratories, Sunovian Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer, and UCB. He also has been involved in product development with Lundbeck and CyDex Pharmaceuticals. Drs. Patterson, Coles, and Cloyd have received support from NeuroVista through grants to their respective institutions during part of the period of the research activity. Drs. Sheffield and Mavoori, Jason Higgins, Michael Bland, and Kent Leyde served as employees of NeuroVista during the period of the research activity. Dr. Litt has served as a paid consultant for Neurovista. The remaining authors have no conflicts of interest. We confirm that we have read the Journal's position on issues involved in ethical publication and affirm that this report is consistent with those guidelines.
Keywords
- Caregiver alert
- Device
- EEG
- Epilepsy
- Seizure advisory
- Seizure management