Abstracts

Rationale: Patients with epilepsy and their caregivers are constantly burdened with the possibility of a seizure and the consequences such as accidents, injuries, and sudden unexplained death in epilepsy. It is the unpredictable nature of seizures that often affects both patients with seizures and their caregivers, limits independence, and hinders their quality of life. There are several types of motion detectors on the market, each with varying degrees of sensitivity.Methods: We prospectively tested the SmartWatch, a wrist-worn monitor, on children, adolescents, and young adults with various types of seizures in an Epilepsy Monitoring Unit. Confirmation of the seizure type and if there was rhythmic jerking associated with the seizure was determined by review of the video electroencephalogram (EEG). This was compared with the standard detection system of the watch. This study was approved by the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital internal review boards.Results: This study captured a total of 191 seizures in 41 patients, aged 5-41 years. Fifty-one of the seizures were generalized tonic-clonic. Forty-seven of the seizures had a rhythmic arm movement component. The SmartWatch detected 30 seizures (16%) out of the total, 16 seizures (31%) of the generalized tonic-clonic seizures, and 16 seizures (34%) with rhythmic arm movements.Conclusions: Overall, only a minority of generalized tonic-clonic seizures or seizures with rhythmic movements were detected, highlighting the need for effective seizure detection device.