DigRTEpi SIGNED

Project "DigRTEpi" data sheet

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 Project objective

Behavior, reactivity and consciousness of epilepsy patients may be unpredictably impaired by seizures. For one important aspect in the daily lives of epilepsy patients, driving, international and national guidelines exist. These guidelines for the fitness to drive require worldwide a period of seizure freedom. In addition, a compatible electroencephalography (EEG) recording is required for vocational drivers in many countries and for all traffic participants in few countries including Switzerland. It’s about the occurrence of epileptiform EEG potentials in-between seizures that are not perceived by epilepsy patients and not visible to observers, called interictal epileptic activity (IEA). Detailed EEG compatibility specifications have however not been formulated. In an interdisciplinary approach with neurology, medical electronics engineering, behavioral neurosciences, and informatics, we aim at developing the first integrated system that automatically records the impact of IEA on behavior, reactivity, and consciousness in epilepsy patients, called DigRTEpi Test. This test should support physicians in their assessment of IEA effects on reactivity and thus provides objective and standardized support in the decision on EEG compatibility and the fitness to drive in clinical practice. The new system will circumvent digital latencies by computers and software, record patients’ effective reaction times and thus will open a new dimension of accuracy. A new open-source video-EEG synchronization and compatibility with various commercial EEG recording devices will grant user-friendliness. Patients will benefit from a better understanding of the impact of IEA on their daily activities of life because IEA effects can be made plausible to them by reaction time prolongations, and thus decisions on EEG compatibility may be better accepted. In future, we also work towards integrating the DigRTEpi Test into guidelines for the fitness to drive.