Prevent a seizure

Epilepsy attacks have learned to prevent using the brain-computer interface

Alyona Egorova, "Open Science"

Scientists of Saratov State Technical University named after Gagarin together with colleagues from Germany and the Netherlands have developed a brain-computer interface for predicting and preventing seizures in patients with epilepsy. Joint development allows you to control the work of the brain using electrical stimulation. An article by an international team dedicated to the results of this study was published in the journal Scientific Reports, part of the Nature group of journals (Maksimenko et al., Absence Seizure Control by a Brain Computer Interface).

"We managed to develop a brain-computer interface aimed at predicting and preventing peak-wave discharges that lead to epileptic seizures. The first experiments conducted on rats with a genetic predisposition to absentee epilepsy showed that the interface really works and can help patients with epilepsy," explained Alexander Khramov, one of the authors of the development, Professor of Gagarin State Technical University.

The scientist explains: standard drug therapy, which patients with absentee epilepsy receive, negatively affects the general condition of a person, in addition, in about 30 cases out of a hundred, it simply does not work. One of the most promising treatment strategies, according to Khramov, is electrical stimulation of the brain. It is this principle that formed the basis of the development. "Until now, such experimental treatment has only allowed to reduce seizures, while the ultimate goal is their complete abolition. And in order to prevent an attack, you need to predict it in time. Before our work, this remained an unresolved problem," he clarifies.

The prototype created by an international group of scientists is a complex technical automated system. It includes electrodes implanted into the brain to register the activity of various brain regions and subsequent brain stimulation, amplifiers connected to a computer to process the received signals in real time, an intelligent system that "recognizes" an approaching epileptic seizure, and a control system for a pulse generator that stimulates the brain. An intelligent interface that provides feedback "catches" signals from deep areas of the brain about an approaching attack literally a second before it appears. Then, with the help of weak stimulation of the brain by electrical impulses, the processes that trigger the epileptic discharge are destroyed.

Figure from an article in Scientific Reports – VM.

"The results of our research showed that the interface predicted every second peak-wave discharge in real time, while the remaining discharges were determined at the very beginning. In 72 cases out of a hundred, the duration of convulsive activity decreased," the scientist comments.

According to Khramov, the prototype of the brain-computer interface created in the future can be used not only to stop the epileptic activity of patients suffering from epilepsy. It can become the basis for the creation of rehabilitation simulators after a stroke or patients with dementia or Alzheimer's.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru  09.06.2017