Minisensor monitors epileptic seizures

New funding will help optimise and miniturise the sensor which is worn like a hearing aid

A consortium coordinated by the epileptologists at the University Hospital Bonn have been awarded €2 million to develop a mobile minisensor that can detect and monitor seizures.

The sensor, developed by Munich-based Cosinuss, is placed in the ear like a hearing aid. It is designed to transmit a signal via a connected smartphone to a central computer that continuously checks the incoming data for abnormalities and to warn patients, relatives, and attending physicians if necessary. This sensor will be minaturised and further optimised by the EPItect project.

Dr. Rainer Surges, lead consultant at the Department of Epileptology at the University Hospital Bonn and coordinator of the joint project, said: "We estimate that the patients consciously perceive a maximum of half their seizures - with EPItect we can expect to make better diagnoses, because the frequency and severity of seizures can be recorded better.

"In a preliminary study we found that epileptic seizures can be detected very well via an accelerated pulse and certain patterns of movement.”

The consortium plans to have the technology available for patients and clinical trials in a few years.

Dr. Surges said: "In epileptology we are just at the beginning of a breakthrough in mobile healthcare technologies and telemedicine.”

The EPItect consortium consists of five institutions and two associated partners in Germany: the University Hospital Bonn, Fraunhofer Institute for Software and Systems Technology, the University of Kiel, the North German Epilepsy Center, Cosinuss, the University for Healthcare Professions, and the Epilepsy Bundes-Elternverband [National Epilepsy Parents Network].