Every Second Counts: Advancing Seizure Detection and Response

Challenge Overview

Seizures can occur unpredictably, including during sleep, creating significant safety risks for individuals with seizure disorders, particularly when caregivers are not physically present in the same room. While some technologies exist to detect seizures, gaps remain in ensuring timely, reliable alerts that enable rapid intervention. This challenge invites students to reimagine how remote seizure detection and alerting systems can better support safety, independence, and peace of mind.

The Problem

When a seizure occurs and goes unnoticed, especially during sleep or when an individual is alone, it can lead to delayed intervention, prolonged oxygen deprivation, and serious health consequences. Caregivers often rely on being within hearing distance or on imperfect monitoring tools, creating anxiety and inconsistent response times. Existing device-based solutions may not fully address reliability, accessibility, usability, or real-world living situations.

The Opportunity

There is an opportunity to design solutions that improve timely seizure detection and real-time alerting, enabling faster caregiver response or emergency intervention. Innovations could support both shared living environments (e.g., caregivers in another room) and independent living scenarios, enhancing safety without compromising autonomy.

Design Considerations

• Accuracy & reliability: Minimize false positives/negatives in detecting seizures
• Timeliness: Ensure fast and actionable alerts
• Ease of use: Simple setup and operation for both users and caregivers
• Comfort & wearability: Non-intrusive for continuous use (including during sleep)
• Connectivity: Functions reliably across rooms or remote locations
• Privacy & autonomy: Respects independence while ensuring safety
• Emergency integration: Ability to escalate alerts when needed

Potential Directions (not prescriptive)

• Wearables that monitor physiological signals or movement patterns
• Non-contact systems (e.g., bed-based or environmental sensors)
• Smart alert systems that notify caregivers via apps, devices, or networks
• Solutions that escalate to emergency services or remote contacts
• Hybrid systems combining multiple data sources to improve detection accuracy
• Platforms that support independent living with remote monitoring options

Cost Awareness & Benchmarking

• Cost and accessibility of current seizure detection devices and monitoring systems
• Trade-offs between high-tech solutions and affordability
• Long-term cost benefits of preventing severe complications or emergency events
• Scalability for home use vs. broader healthcare adoption
• Clear differentiation and value compared to existing wearable or app-based tools

Impact

• Reduce time to intervention during seizures
• Improve health outcomes by minimizing complications
• Enhance caregiver confidence and reduce anxiety
• Enable greater independence for individuals living with seizure disorders
• Provide more equitable and accessible safety solutions across different living situations