Epilepsy Foundation New Therapy Grant Award winner Mark Lehmkuhle PhD, chief executive officer and chief technical officer of Epitel, Inc., provides an update for epilepsy.com on the Epilog EEG patch. Lehmkuhle also presented results from a feasibility study for Epilog in a poster and a display booth at the American Epilepsy Society 70th Annual Meeting in Houston, Texas.

Epilog is a wearable electroencephalography (EEG) patch that records seizure activity over a period of seven days.

An Innovation in EEG Technology

The Epilog patch has two electrodes and is a discrete, square device worn at the person’s hairline. The device can be worn anywhere on the head and is waterproof. It records seizures 24 hours a day for a full week. The person wearing it or their caretaker can spot check whether or not the patch is working by holding up a handheld smart device to the patch.

After seven days, the patch is removed and returned to an epileptologist (a neurologist who specializes in epilepsy) who reads the results and records them in the person’s electronic medical record. The results are also shared with the person’s medical team so together they can discuss potential changes to their seizure treatment plan.

Epilog provides a method to monitor seizures without relying on seizure diaries or long-term EEG testing of brain waves in an epilepsy monitoring unit. Both diaries and monitoring in a clinical setting have disadvantages. Seizure diaries can be difficult for children, people with severe forms of epilepsy, and their caretakers to manage. Long-term EEGs, where patients stop taking their medication and undergo video EEG monitoring over several days, are costly and time consuming for both the person with epilepsy and clinician.

Each person living with epilepsy is different. Determining exactly what kind of seizures a person has is essential to achieving the best seizure control possible for them. Having another method for EEG testing, like the Epilog patch, gives people with epilepsy and their health care team more options and more information for finding the best treatment plan.

Development of the Epilog Patch

Epilog was originally developed using a wireless transmitter for preclinical models of seizures and epilepsy in young rats and mice. The patch was first tested on people in comas at the University of Utah.

In the next stage, Lehmkuhle and principle investigator Mark Spitz MD, professor in the department of neurology at the University of Colorado, conducted a small feasibility study on people living with epilepsy. This study was conducted at the University of Colorado Medical Center and received funding from the Epilepsy Foundation. It currently has 39 people enrolled and has recorded over 80 seizures using 155 Epilog devices. Since the study has exceeded its original goal of recording 61 seizures, the study will stop enrollment at 42 people.

Future of the Epilog Patch

Two more studies will continue to investigate the use of the Epilog patch.

Principle investigator Dan Friedman MD will take the Epilog patch from the clinic to individuals’ homes. This study will compare subjects’ seizure diary information with data from the Epilog patch. It is funded in part through an Epilepsy Foundation research grant.

A project led by Tobias Loddenkemper MD at Boston’s Children’s Hospital will study the device specifically in children.

Epilog is currently in feasibility development studies and not available for commercial use.

The Epilepsy Foundation is dedicated to funding research, encouraging radical new ideas in the field, accelerating problem solving, and supporting up and coming scientists. Learn more about research supported by the Epilepsy Foundation here.

2016 Pipeline Presentation

Mark Lehmkuhle PhD of Epitel Inc. presents information about the Epilog EEG patch at the 2016 Epilepsy Foundation Pipeline Conference.