Epilepsy affects both children and adults. When medication does not control seizures, surgery is another option. Currently, about 50% of children who undergo this surgery become seizure-free afterwards.
Surgeons need to identify which part of the patient’s brain that is responsible for the seizures.
UTA bioengineer Christos Papadelis said that can be difficult because different portions of the brain can cause seizures.
Current testing is invasive. Doctors must drill holes in the scalp and insert electrodes to pinpoint the location of the seizure activity.
The UTA researchers focused on two techniques. One uses electroencephalography or EEG to measure electrical activity in the brain. And the other uses magnetoencephalography or MEG to measure the magnetic activity in the brain. Both approaches are noninvasive.
“By using these tools that we develop in our study, we are able to identify with high precision, which is the functional network in the brain that is responsible for the seizures,” Papadelis said. “We’ll bring the child to the hospital, and we put some electrodes on the child's head non-invasively, and then we record this activity.”
Papadelis said that the researchers can provide this information to the clinicians and neurosurgeons, so they know where to operate and increase the chances of a child becoming seizure-free.
Papadelis worked with doctoral student Ludovica Corona at UTA and researchers at Cook Children’s Health Care System. The team published their brain research in the scientific journal “Brain” mid-February.
The study, “Non-invasive mapping of epileptogenic networks predicts surgical outcome,” was supported by UT Arlington and Cook Children’s Health Care System, was funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and was produced in collaboration with Boston Children’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
Papadelis expects that this research will benefit many patients and their families.
“I’m a parent. And as a father of two kids, I know how it's important for people to give the best to their kids in terms of medical treatment” Papadelis said.
Got a tip? Email Mya Nicholson at mnicholson@kera.org.
Mya Nicholson reports for KERA's government accountability team. She studies broadcast journalism at the University of North Texas.
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