Automatic seizure detection: improvements and evaluation

Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol. 1990 Oct;76(4):317-24. doi: 10.1016/0013-4694(90)90032-f.

Abstract

Improvements to an existing automatic seizure detection program are described. They are aimed at taking into account a larger temporal context and thus improving the specificity of the detections. Results were evaluated on 293 recordings from 49 patients, totaling 5303 h of 16-channel recording. They showed that 24% of the 244 seizures recorded were missed by the automatic detection; in 41% of the seizures, the patient alarm was not pressed but the computer made detections. The false detection rate was of the order of 1 false detection per hour of recording. Conclusions are: (1) automatic seizure detection must be used in conjunction with a patient alarm button since some seizures, having poorly defined EEG activity, are not detected; (2) the automatic detection allowed capture of many seizures, clinical and subclinical, for which the alarm was not pressed; (3) the low false detection rate indicates that lower detection threshold could be used, yielding better seizure detection.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Electroencephalography*
  • Electromyography
  • Electrooculography
  • Epilepsy / diagnosis*
  • Epilepsy / physiopathology
  • Humans
  • Monitoring, Physiologic