Current Events: Wrist Band Sensors Can Detect, and Possible Predict, Life-Threatening Seizures

    Some seizures may not be all that bad, must some can be deadly. Why would you, or someone you know, ever want to go through a seizure that no one expected? You wouldn't. Luckily, media researchers at MIT (Massachusetts Institution of Technology) have created wristbands that can detect when seizures are occuring. How do these wristbands work? They measure skin conductance, or how easily electrical currents can pass through skin (how much you sweat). Skin conductance can change for a variety of reasons and a researcher discovered that skin conductance spikes before and during a seizure. More tests and experiments have shown that if the seizure lasts for a long time, it doesn't guarantee the seizure is deadly. How bad a seizure is can be found by seeing how fast the brain returns to normal after. After testing 11 children, the researchers found that the higher the skin conductance, the longer it took for the brain to return to normal, causing the seizure to be more deadly.

     I believe that the MIT media researchers should continue to improve this wristband because it can be very beneficial in the future. By running more tests and experiments, researchers can fix all the bugs in the wristband an insure that they work properly. If they work properly, people who suffer from seizures are able to tell when they are going to have a seizure. This is helpful because then the seizure victim can find help immediately and find a place to stay that won't harm anyone. In addition, this will help the seizure victim feel more safe and stressed. Originally, many seizures would be sudden, but with this wristband, they do not need to worry about a seizure coming up out of the blue. Finally, the wristband will also show how bad the seizure will be, so people can get the necessary help. These seizure detecting wristbands will be extremely helpful in society and will do nothing but help seizure victims.

Seizure Detecting wristbands

Article and picture from:
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2012-05/wristband-sensors-can-detect-and-possibly-predict-life-threatening-seizures