Watch out for epileptic seizures with Nightwatch, a device which signals an alarm when a seizure is detected.
1.What is it?
A bracelet which tracks heart rate and movement through an algorithm which calculates the presence of seizures.
This stimulates an alarm to be sent wirelessly to the base station – caregiver/ clinical team.
CE approved
2. Why is it important?
Over 600, 000 people in the UK suffer from epilepsy which can affect a patient’s independence due to its effects on:
- driving licence
- employment
- education
- social isolation
Devices like Nightwatch is non invasive and can help a patient lead a more independent life and receive the correct help as required.
3. How does it work?
- wear the device on the upper arm
- heart rate tracked by photoplethysmography (PPG); an optical technique which detects blood volume changes in microvascular bed of tissue (skin)
- movement tracked by 3D accelerometry – electrode measures signals which are converted to digital codes
- Continuous analysis of heart rate and movement
- Yellow light when device is measuring heart rate
- Red light on device when seizure detected
- out of range measurements are rated as; major seizure, cloni- tonic, general tonic, hyperkinetic, clusters
- Wireless Alarm sent to base station – carer/ nursing station
Clinical Trial results on a group of patients at 2 Dutch epilepsy institutes have shown significant advantages of the Nightwatch device over alternatives – recognising over 85% of severe seizures.¹
- median sensitivity – 0.86 at 95% CI
- positive predicted value – 0.46 at 95% CI
- false negative – 0.03 per night (1, 826 nights)
4. The future
- Demonstrate fewer complications as a result of better control of seizures in epileptics.
- Increase detection of seizures to 100%
- bring safety to as many people as possible
5. Who is involved?
- Nightwatch
- LivAssured
- Kempenhaeghe Epilepsy centre
- Sein Epilepsy centre
- University Medical Centre Utrecht
- Patient representatives
- Epilepsy Fund
References
- Johan Arends et al. Multimodal nocturnal seizure detection in a residential care setting, Neurology (2018).
- https://www.livassured.com
- YouTube video on NightWatch