I-Corps: Wearable Oculometric Analysis to Detect Seizures

University Of California-Berkeley, Berkeley CA

Investigators

Abstract

The broader/commercial impact of this I-Corps project will be to address an unmet need to identify and alarm for all seizure types. More than 60 million people worldwide suffer from epilepsy, a debilitating, unpredictable chronic condition. To reduce the risk of injury or death, neurologists frequently recommend caregivers constantly monitor patients, resulting in co-sleeping, significant changes in work and family schedules, and a substantial loss of independence. However, even under monitored conditions, caregivers fail to recognize more than 50% of seizures, resulting in sub-optimal treatment. Although technology is available to detect seizures in clinical settings, the necessary equipment is not currently suitable for continuous use in daily living. The development and validation of technology to detect and alert patients and caregivers to all types of seizures in a non-clinical setting would have substantial benefits for timely treatment, improve patient outcomes, and improve patient and caregiver quality of life. This I-Corps project further develops a core technology that uses analysis of eye movements to provide a reliable, reproducible means of identifying seizure activity. The team is developing wearable eye-tracking technology and software suitable for identifying all seizure types during wakefulness and sleep. This work will significantly advance understanding of seizures through rigorous mathematical analysis of eye movements which previously has been only qualitatively described. The core technology analyzes eye movements, known as oculometrics, to detect seizures. The goal is to transform how at-risk individuals and caregivers identify and respond to seizures, potentially reducing time to treatment, reducing mortality, and improving quality of life. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.