Researchers develop algorithm that can help decode brain scans to identify type of epilepsy

Epilepsy is a neurological disease where the brain emits sudden bursts of electrical signals in a short amount of time.

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), in collaboration with All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Rishikesh, have developed an algorithm that they said can help decode brain scans to identify the occurrence and type of epilepsy.

Currently, a patent has been filed for the work and the algorithm is being tested for its reliability by physicians at AIIMS Rishikesh, Bengaluru-based IISc said.

Epilepsy is a neurological disease where the brain emits sudden bursts of electrical signals in a short amount of time, resulting in seizures, fits, and in extreme cases, death.

Based on the point of origin of the brain's erratic signals, epilepsy is classified as either focal or generalised epilepsy.

Focal epilepsy occurs when the erratic signals are confined to a specific region in the brain. If the signals are at random locations, then it is termed as generalised epilepsy.

To identify whether a patient is epileptic, neurophysiologists need to manually inspect EEGs (electroencephalograms), which can capture such erratic signals, an IISc statement noted on Wednesday.

Visual inspection of EEG can become tiring after prolonged periods, and may occasionally lead to errors, says Hardik J Pandya, Assistant Professor at the Department of Electronic Systems Engineering (DESE) and the corresponding author of the study published in 'Biomedical Signal Processing and Control'.