‘Important milestone’
Commenting on the research, Benjamin H. Brinkmann, PhD, associate professor of neurology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., said the investigators “have done very good work applying state of the art machine learning techniques” to the “important problem” of accurately detecting seizures.
Dr. Brinkmann is part of the Epilepsy Foundation–sponsored “My Seizure Gauge” project that’s evaluating various wearable devices, including the Empatica E4 wristband and the Fitbit Charge 3, to determine what measurements are needed for reliable seizure forecasting.
“Previously, no one knew whether seizure prediction was possible with these devices, and the fact that this group was able to achieve ‘better-than-chance’ prediction accuracy is an important milestone.”
However, he emphasized that there is still a great deal of work to be done to determine, for example, if seizure prediction with these devices can be accurate enough to be clinically useful. “For example, if the system generates too many false-positive predictions, patients won’t use it.”
In addition, the findings need to be replicated and recordings extended to 6 months or more to determine whether they are helpful to patients long term and in the home environment, said Dr. Brinkmann.
The investigators and Dr. Brinkmann have disclosed having no relevant financial relationships.
A version of this article originally appeared on Medscape.com.