Under the best of conditions, it can be difficult to come up with an accurate diagnosis. When you’re dealing with a chronic condition that manifests itself as random episodes, catching one of those events can be the key to identifying the cause. For the 50 million people in the world who suffer from epilepsy, monitoring can be a major problem. Being tied down to expensive equipment in a hospital is not convenient, but there are few alternatives that can gather the necessary biometric data.
That’s the problem that the folks at Bioserenity intend to solve. They have developed the WEMU: Wearable Epilepsy Monitoring Unit. The system consists of three components. There is a shirt (plus an optional cap) with embedded sensors that gather biometric data from the subject, around the clock. This is transmitted to a smartphone or tablet that is running a dedicated app. The data is processed and forward to the cloud where additional analysis and reporting takes place.
The WEMU serves three functions. First, it collects data continuously, making it easier for physicians and healthcare professionals to make a definitive diagnosis and track the effectiveness of treatments. The second function is that the system can often provide early warnings for subjects and their care givers of an impending seizure. This can result in preparations and precautions that will help keep the subject and those around him or her safer. Finally, the data collected by the system can be a valuable source of information in studying the condition across a larger population of subjects, which could lead to a better understanding of epilepsy and how it can be treated most effectively.