Design and prototyping a microcontroller-based wearable device for epileptic seizure detection and monitoring

Abstract

One of the threats to our life is Seizure disorders which pose a significant challenge for individuals with epilepsy and their caregivers, as sudden episodes can occur at any time without warning, but traditional methods like paper-based diaries of seizure occurrence have proved to be inefficient in seizure monitoring. Wearable devices have emerged as an important cog in tracking and monitoring human daily life, hence early detection and timely intervention are crucial to minimizing the risks associated with seizures which motivated researchers to explore the use of wearable devices and biosensors like Electroencephalography (EEG), Electromyography (EMG), Electrocardiography (ECG), Gyroscopes and Accelerometers, but all the solutions explored in the literature are bulky with many wires and don’t give the patient enough intended freedom. Our research focuses on the design and prototyping of a microcontroller-based wearable device for epileptic seizure detection by using wearable Myoware EMG sensor to measure muscle activity, and small sized ECG to detect heart rate. ESP8266 microcontroller collects data from the ECG sensor and another ESP8266 collects data from EMG sensor, then both data sets are sent to a remote IoT dashboard for data analysis and storage which uses a threshold control algorithm to identify patterns that are indicative of an impending seizure, then use an alerting system of the buzzer, OLED screen to warn the patient and an SMS gateway to send the status of the seizure detection to inform the caregiver that a seizure is about to occur with Global Positioning System (GPS) location of the patient. The proposed research has the prospective to revolutionize the way that seizures are detected and treated in Rwanda. By providing early warning of an impending seizure, the device could help prevent injuries and save the lives of people with epilepsy.