Wristband detects and alerts for seizures, monitors stress

 People with epilepsy suffer from recurrent, unprovoked seizures that can cause injury and even death from "sudden unexpected death in epilepsy" (SUDEP), a condition that occurs minutes after a seizure ends.

Now Empatica, co-founded by MIT professor and wearables pioneer Rosalind Picard, has developed a medical-quality consumer wristband, called Embrace, that monitors stress signals to detect potentially deadly seizures and alert wearers and caregivers, so they can intervene.

Researchers worldwide are using a scientific version of the wristband, called the E4, which also measures other signals, to study epilepsy and other neurological and psychiatric conditions. Numerous academic papers are now published, showing that the combined electrodermal activity (EDA), also known as skin conductance, and motion data collected from the wrist improve the accuracy of seizure detection over using only motion data.

Now Empatica is prepping to release Embrace, "a consumer-looking, but medical-quality device" for monitoring stress and seizures, says Picard, a professor of media arts and sciences in the MIT Media Lab and Empatica's chief scientist. After a successful Indiegogo campaign last year, the beta version of Embrace shipped to backers last Friday.

Apart from detecting seizures, anyone can also use the wristbands to monitor stress levels—which is important for good health, Picard says. Chronic stress has been linked to numerous health issues such as heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. "Stress signals reach every organ of your body, so these stress signals are potentially influencing everything," Picard says. "Sometimes you don't realize [you're stressed] until you get that just-in-time notice."

Better stress detection for all

According to the World Health Organization, roughly 50 million people worldwide suffer from epilepsy. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates about one in every 1,000 people with epilepsy die annually from SUDEP, a possible result of suffocation from impaired breathing, fluid in the lungs, or seizing while sleeping face down. Rates are significantly higher for people who have had at least one grand mal seizure—one of the most dangerous types of seizures—in the past year, Picard says.

With Embrace, Empatica aims to aid people suffering from epilepsy by helping them better alert loved ones, Picard says. An app that comes with Embrace lets wearers and others monitor when the person might be having a grand mal seizure.

Source: ScienceDaily