Seizure Detection Devices: Five New Things.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to review seizure detection devices (SDDs) and their mechanisms of action and efficacy and to reflect on potential improvements for future devices.

Recent Findings: There are 5 main categories of SDDs, these include EEG, heart rate detection (HR), electrodermal activity (EDA), motion detection, and EMG. These devices can be used in combination or in isolation to detect seizures. These devices are high in their sensitivity for convulsive seizures but are low in specificity because of a tendency to detect artifact. Overall, they perform poorly in identifying nonconvulsive seizures.

Summary: SDDs are currently most useful in detecting convulsive seizures and thereby might help against sudden unexpected death in epilepsy, although they have a high false positive rate. These devices are much less adept at detecting more clinically subtle seizures.