BME 482Kevin Sylvestre

Seizures which are difficult to control, despite treatment

Often must resort to invasive brain surgery to treat

Very dangerous, can lead to status epilepticus (SE) Persistent seizure, 20% mortality rate, often

result in permanent damage

If SE is interrupted and eliminated, this constitutes cure

One method: transcutaneous electrical stimulation (TcES)

Utilizes tripolar concentric ring electrodes, developed by Dr. Walter Besio (currently of URI BME)

High spatial resolution thanks to unique configuration

Desirable in epileptic diagnosis

Potentially useful for epileptic treatment

Experiment in 2007: 16 rats (8 control, 8 experimental) All have pilocarpine-induced seizures with SE Experimental given TcES Result:

▪ Experimental group returned to baseline activity after 1-3 applications of TcES, most survived

▪ Control group expired after average of 15 hours

No tonic contractions, aversion responses or escape behavior elicited by rats Rats went about business normally, even

during TcES Most likely indicates painlessness

TES often induces negative reactions Leaves rats gasping and incapacitated

Besio W., Koka K., Cole A., “Feasibility of Non-invasive Transcutaneous Electrical Stimulation for Modulating Pilocarpine-induced Status Epilepticus Seizures in Rats,” Accepted by Epilepsia, 4/18/2007.  IF 3.55

Besio W., Koka K., Aakula R., Dai W., “Tri-polar Concentric Ring Electrode Development for Laplacian Electroencephalography,” IEEE Trans BME, Vol. 53, No. 5, pp. 926-933, 2006. IF 1.6

Status epilepticus. (2010, March 13). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 18:09, April 4, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Status_epilepticus&oldid=349535889