Epileptic Seizures may be Stopped by a Next-generation Device

Next-generation devices may stop epileptic seizures before they begin by closing the loop with high-frequency brain waves as per a study to be conducted at the University Of Houston. The study had also received a $3.7 million BRAIN Initiative grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Epilepsy is a non-communicable neurological disorder, defined by the recurrence of seizures, due to bursts of electrical activity in the brain. Recurrent seizures often comprise of brief episodes of involuntary movement of a part of the body (partial) or the entire body (generalized) with/without loss of consciousness and control of bowel or bladder function.

The study pioneer Nuri Firat Ince, associate professor of biomedical engineering, University of Houston earlier had contributed to a dramatic decrease in the time (almost by weeks) it takes to detect the seizure onset zone (SOZ – the brain region that causes seizures) in the brain.

This was done by detecting high-frequency oscillations (HFO) that form repetitive waveform patterns. This helps in further identifying their location in the SOZ.

Epileptic Seizures and Technology

The work thereby lays the translational background for the upcoming study as the team plans to use those HFOs to close the loop, translating them into seizure control applications, a method never before explored. For this, the HFOs generated by the seizure onset zone must be able to be detected with an implantable system.

“If this can be achieved, then HFOs can be strategically translated as a neurobiomarker into closed-loop seizure control applications. We hypothesize that pathologic stereotyped HFOs can be captured with the implantable Brain Interchange (BIC) system and spatial topography of these events can be utilized by the implantable system to deliver targeted electrical stimulation to achieve seizure control. If the outcomes of our research in acute settings become successful, we will execute a clinical trial and run our methods with the implanted BIC system in a chronic ambulatory setting,” says, Ince.

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Source-Medindia