Predictability analysis for an automated seizure prediction algorithm.

Epileptic seizures of mesial temporal origin are preceded by changes in signal properties detectable in the intracranial EEG. A series of computer algorithms designed to detect the changes in spatiotemporal dynamics of the EEG signals and to warn of impending seizures have been developed. In this study, we evaluated the performance of a novel adaptive threshold seizure warning algorithm (ATSWA), which detects the convergence in Short-Term Maximum Lyapunov Exponent (STLmax) values among critical intracranial EEG electrode sites, as a function of different seizure warning horizons (SWHs). The ATSWA algorithm was compared to two statistical based naïve prediction algorithms (periodic and random) that do not employ EEG information. For comparison purposes, three performance indices "area above ROC curve" (AAC), "predictability power" (PP) and "fraction of time under false warnings" (FTF) were defined and the effect of SWHs on these indices was evaluated. The results demonstrate that this EEG based seizure warning method performed significantly better (P < 0.05) than both naïve prediction schemes. Our results also show that the performance indexes are dependent on the length of the SWH. These results suggest that the EEG based analysis has the potential to be a useful tool for seizure warning.

An investigation of EEG dynamics in an animal model of temporal lobe epilepsy using the maximum Lyapunov exponent.

Analysis of intracranial electroencephalographic (iEEG) recordings in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) has revealed characteristic dynamical features that distinguish the interictal, ictal, and postictal states and inter-state transitions. Experimental investigations into the mechanisms underlying these observations require the use of an animal model. A rat TLE model was used to test for differences in iEEG dynamics between well-defined states and to test specific hypotheses: 1) the short-term maximum Lyapunov exponent (STL(max)), a measure of signal order, is lowest and closest in value among cortical sites during the ictal state, and highest and most divergent during the postictal state; 2) STL(max) values estimated from the stimulated hippocampus are the lowest among all cortical sites; and 3) the transition from the interictal to ictal state is associated with a convergence in STL(max) values among cortical sites. iEEGs were recorded from bilateral frontal cortices and hippocampi. STL(max) and T-index (a measure of convergence/divergence of STL(max) between recorded brain areas) were compared among the four different periods. Statistical tests (ANOVA and multiple comparisons) revealed that ictal STL(max) was lower (p<0.05) than other periods, STL(max) values corresponding to the stimulated hippocampus were lower than those estimated from other cortical regions, and T-index values were highest during the postictal period and lowest during the ictal period. Also, the T-index values corresponding to the preictal period were lower than those during the interictal period (p<0.05). These results indicate that a rat TLE model demonstrates several important dynamical signal characteristics similar to those found in human TLE and support future use of the model to study epileptic state transitions.