Swipe Right: Buzzworthy Tech Apps for Seizure Management

• Advances in technology can help people living with epilepsy manage their seizures.
• Tools available today include smart watches and smartphone apps.
• Cell phones with video taking ability give caretakers the ability to record a seizure, providing valuable information to the health care team.
• Video monitoring devices can record people in their sleep, detect abnormal movements, and alert caregivers or family members that help may be needed.

In a society where smart phones and watches are vital components for daily function, it is no surprise that technology has started to make its mark on everyday epilepsy management. From medications to appointments, it can be particularly difficult for people living with epilepsy to adequately manage their disease. Advances in technology can help.

Smart Watches

Recent biotech developments have focused on creating noninvasive monitors designed as wristwatches to track for abnormal movement patterns.

• These watches are designed to sense jerking movements, such as those caused by a generalized tonic-clonic seizure.
• Upon sensing seizure-like activity, the watch can send an alert to a Bluetooth-connected phone to alert caretakers.
• The watch can store details about the event, such as the time, date, location, and duration of the activity.
• For the athletically inclined and fashionistas, watches also come in multiple colors and are water resistant.
• The watches are easy and convenient to use and may ease the responsibilities and concerns of people living with epilepsy and their loved ones.

Smartphone Apps

Your everyday smartphone may also prove to be very useful.

• There are various applications that can be used to track medications and set reminders for appointments or doses. The Epilepsy Foundation’s My Seizure Diary and Texting 4 Control are two examples.
• Simply writing down information in smart phones can help you stay organized and keep information readily available that you want to share with your health care team.
• Accelerometer applications can also be downloaded to smartphones to detect abnormal movements. Of course, for these applications to be useful, the smartphone must be on the person living with epilepsy at the time of the seizure, which is no problem for teens who are glued to their phone all the time!

Video

One of the most useful features of cell phones is the ability to simply record the seizures on video. Describing seizures with words to the neurologist is often difficult for people living with epilepsy and their families. People are often unable to accurately describe the seizures due to loss of consciousness or confusion. If there is a witness to seizure, a simple video can be extremely useful.

Video monitoring devices are also available to record people in their sleep and detect abnormal movements at night. The video cameras are often linked to a smart phone to alert caretakers and record the event. If a picture (kilobytes) is worth a thousand words, then, in regard to seizures, a video (megabytes) is worth a million words, at least to the neurologist.

Putting Your Gadgets to Work for You!

The next time you are stumbling though Instagram or Twitter on your phone, consider the potential benefit the remaining Gigabytes of your phone storage can have on your health management.