KASARGOD: Computer science researchers in the Central University of Kerala, Periya, (CUK) have designed a helmet that can predict epileptic seizures three to 10 minutes before the attack, said Dr Rajesh R, associate professor and head of the department. “We have got the patent for the design of the helmet,” he said.The research is part of scholar O K Fasil’s PhD work.
He said he and his team, which includes assistant professor Dr Thasleema T M, have developed an efficient algorithm to epileptic signals from the brain. He said a part of the research was published in ‘Neuroscience Letters’, a biweekly scientific journal for short articles on all aspects of neuroscience.
A seizure while driving, swimming, or operating machinery could be dangerous to the patient and those with them. “But our helmet is wired to predict an attack at least 10 minutes before the seizure,” said Dr Rajesh, guide of Fasil. However, the prediction at 10 minutes could be less accurate, he said.
“The best prediction comes three minutes before the seizure as the signals will be more intense,” he said. As of now,anelectroencephalogram (EEG) machine, which detects electrical activity in the brain, is not portable and patients will have to go to a hospital for testing. Small metal discs or electrodes are attached to the scalp to read the signals.
Dr Rajesh said he thought of making a seizure-predicting gadget in 2016 when he saw a man having an attack at Patna railway station. He was then teaching at the Central University of South Bihar. “The man was travelling alone and no one knew what to do,” he said.
When he got a job at the CUK the same year, he started the research on it. His team at the CUK is trying to embed all the sensors used in an EEG machine in a lightweight helmet. The signals picked up by the helmet would be sent to a hand-held device or mobile phone, said Dr Rajesh. “We have got the design and the algorithm. Now we will have to bring out the product,” he said.