[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/5788\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EStopping epileptic seizures in their tracks\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor a person with epilepsy, the fear that they might suddenly lose consciousness, even briefly, can deter them from carrying out basic activities such as swimming, riding a bike, holding a baby or even leaving the house.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022line-height: 1.538em;\u0022\u003EThis is especially true for the 30\u0026nbsp;% of sufferers, of the 50 million people worldwide who live with epilepsy, for whom medication is unable to control their seizures.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022line-height: 1.538em;\u0022\u003EThe means to predict and prevent seizures is now a step closer, after two EU-funded projects developed devices that can monitor and influence brain activity.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EElectrical activity is happening in our brain all the time. A seizure occurs due to a sudden burst of intense\u0026nbsp;electrical activity which disrupts the way the brain works. This brain activity can be monitored and recorded by electroencephalography (EEG), using electrodes fixed to the scalp.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2018Like an earthquake\u2019\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018There is some similarity between an epileptic seizure and an earthquake,\u2019 explained Professor Antonio Dourado, a computer scientist at Coimbra University, who led the EPILEPSIAE project. \u2018They are unpredictable, but there are signals before the event that we believe can be detected. The problem with epilepsy is that these signals may not be the same for all patients.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022line-height: 1.538em;\u0022\u003EThe project developed a prototype alarm device, Brainatics, which is worn by the sufferer to alert them of an impending fit. Electrodes attached discreetly to the head are connected to a device the size of a cigarette packet. This makes a wireless connection to a computer that monitors brain activity and emits an alarm when it calculates that a seizure is about to occur.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u2018Epileptic seizures\u2026 are unpredictable, but there are signals before the event that we believe can be detected\u2019.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EProfessor Antonio Dourado, computer scientist at Coimbra University, leader of the EPILEPSIAE project\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003Cspan style=\u0022line-height: 1.538em;\u0022\u003EResearchers monitored brain activity in 275 patients for five days, collecting data about the type, time and length of seizures, medication used, age, gender and other details. Project partners used this information to create the European database on epilepsy, which has been made available for the global research community since the project ended in late 2011. It has been commercialised by the Freiburg University Clinic Epilepsy Centre, in Germany.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022line-height: 1.538em;\u0022\u003E\u2018This is the biggest database, as far as we know, about EEG signals. It should help researchers worldwide in their studies of epilepsy,\u2019 said Dourado.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022line-height: 1.538em;\u0022\u003EUsing the data, the partners developed a computational framework for seizure prediction algorithms, called EPILAB. A real time version of this is installed on the Brainatics device to analyse brain activity and give between five and 40 minutes\u2019 advance warning of a seizure, allowing the sufferer to reach a safe place.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022line-height: 1.538em;\u0022\u003EIn tests, the prediction software proved successful for a third of patients, offering a potentially significant improvement to their quality of life. The success rate must be increased to develop a clinically reliable device, something Dourado hopes to take forward in future work. \u2018Advances in nanotechnology and body sensors would also allow us to do many things that are not currently possible,\u2019 he said.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EStop the fit as it starts\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn New York, meanwhile, Dr Antal \u2018Tony\u2019 Ber\u00e9nyi of Hungary\u2019s Szeged University worked with the renowned Buzs\u00e1ki Neuroscience Lab to develop a prototype brain \u2018defibrillator\u2019, which detects abnormal brain activity that characterises the start of a fit and delivers electrical current to restore it to a normal state, stopping the seizure just as it starts.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe small device implanted beneath the skin on the outside of the skull proved successful in lab tests on rats, reducing the duration of \u2018absence\u2019 seizures \u2013 epileptic episodes that are most common among adolescents \u2013 by around 60\u0026nbsp;%, from 11-12 seconds to 3-4 seconds.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn an article about the device published in \u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E in August 2012, the researchers reported that the transcranial electrical stimulation, \u2018at the intensities used, neither induced arousal effects when applied during sleep nor affected overt behavior during waking\u2019.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022img_legend\u0022\u003E\u003Cfigure role=\u0022group\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cimg alt=\u0022The pyramidal neurons in the hippocampus are selectively sensitive to transient ischemic attacks and status epileptics. Picture courtesy of Prof. Buzsaki\u0022 height=\u0022267\u0022 src=\u0022\/research-and-innovation\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/HO3-EP-GB-Neuron%20Trees.jpg\u0022 title=\u0022The pyramidal neurons in the hippocampus are selectively sensitive to transient ischemic attacks and status epileptics. Picture courtesy of Prof. Buzsaki\u0022 width=\u0022200\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022tw-italic tw-mb-4\u0022\u003EThe pyramidal neurons in the hippocampus are selectively sensitive to transient ischemic attacks and status epileptics. Picture courtesy of Prof. Buzsaki\u003C\/figcaption\u003E\n\u003C\/figure\u003E\n\u003Cem\u003EThe pyramidal neurons in the Hippocampus are selectively sensitive to transient ischemic attacks and status epileptics. (c) Prof. Buzsaki\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/span\u003EImplants are already used to regulate electrical activity in the brain to treat drug-resistant cases of Parkinson\u2019s disease and depression. But they involve continuous stimulation from a device implanted deep in the brain. Ber\u00e9nyi\u2019s TSPUMMNRPS project uses a far less invasive treatment and delivers electrical stimulation only when needed.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The principle is very similar to a cardiac defibrillator,\u2019 said Ber\u00e9nyi, who is now back in Hungary working to miniaturise the device and test it on other types of seizure.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe aim is to prevent a seizure entirely after one second, which would mean that, instead of falling unconscious, the patient \u2018wouldn\u2019t even lose their gait\u2019, he added.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Once you have the device and know it takes care of you, you have some sort of a safety feeling,\u2019 he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt could certainly be life changing, and not just for drug-resistant cases of epilepsy. It has none of the long-term implications of brain surgery to remove epileptic tissue, fewer side effects than drugs, and production costs suggest it could be considerably cheaper than lifelong medication.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOver time, it might be used to treat other neurological disorders, and could even allow the brain to self-heal, reducing the incidence of seizures.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-sqo0mrcbskt3owntmppzsew00jockblt1iu4t62rpmc\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-SQO0MrCBSKT3OwntMPpZSEw00JockBLT1IU4T62rpMc\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]