App aids epilepsy diagnosis
A new smart phone application tested in India and Nepal may help people detect epileptic seizures and get better stroke treatment
An epilepsy app has been designed to help non-doctors determine if a person is having an epileptic seizure.
The diagnosis of epilepsy is traditionally done by doctors and time-consuming, relying on asking questions and analyzing the replies. In order to improve diagnosis, especially in developing or remote areas where access to healthcare is poor, researchers including Niraj Gautam and Pankaj Pant from the Dhulikhel Hospital in Nepal have developed an app.
In order to create the app, they first asked a random sample of patients 26 questions about their symptoms before allowing doctors to make a diagnosis. Based on this, the questions that were most useful in reaching a correct diagnosis were incorporated into the app.
This was then validated in two different populations in Nepal and India and compared with the independent clinical diagnosis.
The app was able to distinguish between epilepsy and non-epilepsy with near-complete reliability, with 96 percent of the diagnoses agreeing with doctors assessments.
The article can be found at: Patterson et al. (2013) Training non-neurologists to diagnose epilepsy.
Source: Asian Scientist
Published: 07 Mar 2014
Category: Features, Technology & Devices
