title: Novel techniques for automated seizure registration: Patients' wants and needs.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Patient-reported seizure frequency is essential for therapy management and clinical research but lacks validity mainly due to seizure-induced seizure unawareness. Automated seizure detection by mobile monitoring devices promises to settle this serious methodological issue. Here, we explored attitudes and preferences towards future devices for seizure detection in adult patients with therapy-refractory epilepsies.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 102 inpatients enrolled and underwent a newly constructed semistructured 30-minute interview on automated seizure registration.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Most patients would generally apply and permanently use seizure registration devices. Removable devices were preferred (e.g., wristband sensors), but also patch electrodes at invisible body sites appeared acceptable. Only a minority of patients would accept implantations for seizure registration (especially of depth electrodes). Also, permanent optical or acoustical surveillance were accepted by a few patients only. Most patients were ready to care for the device (e.g., charging battery), to have doctor's appointments for device control, and even to pay for the device. Seizure prediction was evaluated as an essential additional function. Only half of the patients wanted emergency calls in case of a seizure.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients would accept automated seizure registration if the device had as little as possible negative effect on daily living. High acceptance might, therefore, be expected for hardware equipment as it is nowadays used by many healthy subjects for physiological self-monitoring and life-logging. The proper medical engineering task of the future, therefore, is to optimize sensors in those highly feasible devices and to establish reliable biomarkers and outcome measures for a diversity of diseases (including epilepsy) from data obtained by this generic hardware.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epileptology, University of Bonn Medical Centre, Sigmund-Freud-Strasse 25, FRG-53127 Bonn, Germany. Electronic address: christian.hoppe@ukb.uni-bonn.de.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hoppe
authors.affiliation: Department of Epileptology, University of Bonn Medical Centre, Sigmund-Freud-Strasse 25, FRG-53127 Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Mieke
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Feldmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Epileptology, University of Bonn Medical Centre, Sigmund-Freud-Strasse 25, FRG-53127 Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Blachut
authors.affiliation: Department of Epileptology, University of Bonn Medical Centre, Sigmund-Freud-Strasse 25, FRG-53127 Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Surges
authors.affiliation: Department of Epileptology, University of Bonn Medical Centre, Sigmund-Freud-Strasse 25, FRG-53127 Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Elger
authors.affiliation: Department of Epileptology, University of Bonn Medical Centre, Sigmund-Freud-Strasse 25, FRG-53127 Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Helmstaedter
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000069279:Drug Resistant Epilepsy / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D004566:Electrodes; D004632:Emergency Medical Services; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018670:Monitoring, Ambulatory; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012640:Seizures / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Patient survey; Seizure detection; Seizure diary; Seizure frequency; Seizure registration