OREGON STATE EXPERTISE HELPS INDUSTRY PARTNER REFINE A WEARABLE EEG SYSTEM For people with epilepsy, simply knowing when a seizure will occur could make a huge difference for their quality of life and reduce the risk of bodily harm. Although some people have warning signs, seizures are generally unpredictable and potentially life-threatening. Epilepsy affects around 2.9 million adults and 465,000 children nationwide and costs billions in healthcare expenditures, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “About a third of the people with epilepsy experience recurrent seizures despite treatment, making post-diagnostic seizure monitoring extremely important,” said V John Mathews, professor of electrical and computer engineering. Mathews teamed up with Epitel Inc., a Salt Lake City-based health solutions company, to improve the algorithms for the company’s wearable device that detects and monitors seizures caused by epilepsy. The Information Processing Group that Mathews leads specializes in signal processing and machine learning. “Seizure detection uses electroencephalogram data, and that data is nothing but signals,” Mathews said. “Engineers can do a lot to help with diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring of diseases using biological signals including EEGs, electrocardiograms, and electromyograms.” A DEVICE FOR CONTINUOUS SEIZURE MONITORING Current EEG systems are bulky and impractical for daily use. So, Epitel created a single-channel EEG system that is capable of continuously recording EEGs while a person continues their daily activities. The company’s first system had four sensors. Mathews’ team worked on a new system that has just one. The device, called Epilog, is being developed for two purposes. One is to warn people with epilepsy of an oncoming seizure so they can take actions that will help prevent harm. A warning system would also contact caregivers or family members in the case of a seizure. A second purpose is to support epileptologists to more efficiently review long-term data, which could help to identify triggers of seizures. “Working with companies enables us to translate our research into commercial products,” Mathews said. “In this case, the company was already on a IMPROVING SEIZURE MONITORING WITH MACHINE LEARNING WINTER 2026 OREGON STATE ENGINEERING 10
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