Translating seizure detection, prediction and brain stimulation into implantable devices for epilepsy

The dramatic success of pacemakers, cardiac defibrillators, cochlear implants and now brain stimulation for movement disorders has kindled enormous interest in translating Neuroengineering research into practical therapy for neurological disease. Epilepsy, which affects 60 million people worldwide, is an excellent target for new medical devices. Recent research indicates that seizures are likely generated over minutes to hours in a stereotyped, individualized fashion. Focal electrical stimulation has been demonstrated to abort or reduce seizures in animal models of epilepsy and now in early pilot trials in humans. The process of turning these exciting new findings into reliable therapeutic devices is taking place in an iterative process in which animal and basic laboratory research proceeds in parallel with FDA-supervised pilot human studies. We present a scheme for quantifying seizure precursors and coupling these measures to brain stimulation to abort seizures. Models of this type provide an exciting opportunity for engineers, neuroscientists and clinicians to collaborate, with unprecedented opportunity to rapidly translate new findings into clinical treatments.