Long-term Home Monitoring of Seizures by Patient-worn Accelerometer Devices

In the December 2012 Epilepsy and Behavior available on-line first, Drs. Van de Vel and colleagues from the Department of Pediatric Neurology at Antwerp University Hospital, University of Antwerp, Belgium; Kempen University College, Belgium, and the Department of Electrical Engineering present an interesting review comparing the use of an accelerometer, a device that detects motion, and compares it against video monitoring results in pediatric patients who have nocturnal seizures associated with movement that occur at night. Because of an increased need and desire to develop home monitoring systems that help alert patients, caregivers or parents as to when a seizure is occurring without having to necessarily use a video camera or other device, a number of products have recently come to the market. This study set out to establish how accurately do these new devices record seizures.

In this small study, a total of seven patients were studied in a proof-of-concept trial in which video monitoring was compared to the data obtained by the accelerometer. The authors found that the sensitivity of the accelerometer picking up motor seizures was 95.7% and had a positive predictive value of 57.8%.

Despite the few number of cases studied, this study highlights the growing field of accelerometer devices, which are being developed by a number of different companies. Detecting hypermotor seizures is important because it helps give individuals with epilepsy more control as to when things are happening yet allowing for independence if someone is able to watch people from afar without intruding on privacy. This data provides a hopeful sign that this may be a useful tool that and as it develops further may prove to be quite effective in detecting seizures compared to the gold standard of video EEG monitoring.