2 new apps help detect seizures, treat strokes

Your neurological system is complex so when it’s in distress, it may not always  be easy to recognize or know how best to treat. Well, now there’s an app for that, according to two new studies released by the American Academy of Neurology (AAN).

The two new studies, to be presented at the AAN’s annual meeting in late April, highlight smart phone applications designed to help determine if a person is having an epileptic seizure and help doctors give more efficient care for their acute stroke patients.

In the study related to the epilepsy app, researchers surveyed nearly 70 participants who had epileptic seizures. The most helpful responses for predicting a seizure were used to create the app. Once the app was created, it was tested on 132 people in India and Nepal. The results from these participants were then compared to a doctor’s diagnosis. In 96 percent of the cases, the app matched the doctor’s diagnosis.

“It can often be difficult to determine whether someone is having an epileptic seizure,” said study author Dr. Victor Patterson in a statement. “This app will help health professionals evaluate and make the diagnosis, especially when doctors are not available,” said Dr. Patterson, a neurologist from Belfast, U.K.

For the stroke app study, researchers examined a stroke app created by Dr. Claude Nguyen of the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in Philadelphia. The goal of the app was to treat patients in a timely manner, treat them using certain benchmarks and identify their eligibility for clinical trials, all in real time.

“Those who treat acute stroke patients often need to accomplish many tasks simultaneously,” said Dr. Nguyen in a statement. “Not only do we need to deliver acute therapies such as intravenous tPA both safely and expeditiously, but also to evaluate them for clinical trials and mobilize appropriate resources toward these goals,” he added.

Dr. Nguyen’s app is now being used by doctors, nurses and research support staff at University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.