This project will develop an advanced wireless home video electroencephalograph (EEG) system based on an ultra-miniature ambulatory EEG recorder combined with new synchronized wireless high-quality video recording technology. An initial diagnosis of epilepsy is often based on the description of a seizure, a neurological examination, and routine EEG studies. However, the cause of a seizure may still be unclear and longer term EEG monitoring can be used to confirm the diagnosis in both children and adults. Ambulatory EEG recorders are often used in these long term studies allowing a patient to go home with the recorder attached and continuously monitoring seizure activity. With currently available ambulatory EEG recorders, the size of the recorder and non-existent or limited video recording capability diminishes the benefits of ambulatory EEG. Video monitoring can play an integral role in the diagnosis of epilepsy. Recordings from the brain along with video recordings allow physicians to document and analyze patients'seizures. Video scalp electroencephalography (v-EEG) is a cornerstone technology for the evaluation of patients presenting with transient, paroxysmal clinical events associated with neurological symptoms. Ambulatory EEG recorders have existed for years and in the past decade they have been reduced in size and included limited video recording. However, the size of even the most advanced products remains an obstacle, particularly for small children, making home monitoring difficult. Ambulatory video monitoring is limited to a single tethered camera, if available. The recent widespread commercialization of several enabling technologies makes possible the creation of a miniature ambulatory EEG recorder with synchronized video approximately one-tenth the size of currently available systems. The proposed advanced ambulatory v-EEG will be developed and evaluated against a gold-standard clinical v-EEG system at the Mayo clinic.
One of the most common neurological diseases is epilepsy. Epilepsy refers to the tendency to have unprovoked seizures, and encompasses a number of different syndromes. It has a prevalence of 0.5 to one percent. This translates to approximately two million persons in the United States. Expensive long term hospital stays for diagnostic video scalp electroencephalography (v-EEG) monitoring are typically prescribed. Ambulatory v-EEG carried out in the patient home can provide a large cost savings and patient benefit if size, ease of use, and adequate video issues can be resolved.
