Epileptika aims to help treat refractory epilepsy in people with intellectual disability

Reviewed by Danielle Ellis, B.Sc.Jul 26 2023

A team of researchers from the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) has participated in the development of Epileptika. This application aims to help the treatment of refractory epilepsy in people with intellectual disability.

Developed for iOS, Android and PC, Epileptika allows carers of people with intellectual disability to record epileptic seizures, their history, and the intensity and characteristics of daily episodes. It can also infer possible triggers and show the effectiveness of anti-epilepsy drugs.

The project is the result of the collaboration between UPV researchers Cristina Santamarina and Vicente Cloquell and the Valencian cooperative Koynos.

The difficulties experienced by people with intellectual disability in reporting their epileptic seizures, both antecedent and consequence, involves a significant loss of their quality of life. However, this situation can be improved if carers learn to observe and record the relevant signs and have information about their condition before interacting with them. This allows them to establish guidelines for adapting the daily activities based on this information."

Cristina Santamarina, Researcher, UPV

According to the UPV researchers, the application is currently at the prototype stage and has already been tested for six months on five patients. And according to them, its use has contributed to improving the patients' quality of life by reducing the number of episodes or facilitating a better pharmacological adjustment.

"It is necessary to increase the number of samples, although Epileptika is already a reliable tool for the treatment of refractory epilepsy in people with intellectual disability. And in terms of its clinical utility, it facilitates the work of support and intervention teams and the communication "with" and "among" medical professionals", adds Cristina Santamarina.

These results were published in the Medicine journal (Buenos Aires) and presented in the latest International Congress of Update on neurodevelopmental disorders in Valencia in March 2023.