Penn researchers recently unveiled an artificial intelligence platform that allows patients with epilepsy to communicate directly with their medical devices.
The platform, released in an Oct. 13 study, will enable patients to receive real-time information about their brain activity and potential oncoming seizures. Bioengineering professor Brian Litt worked with a team to develop the program, which aims to shift health monitoring capabilities to patients rather than solely their physicians.
The platform addresses a limitation of existing medical devices by improving the communication between the medical data collected and the patients themselves, according to Litt.
Through a mobile application, patients can exchange messages with an AI assistant that analyzes their neurological data. The system notifies patients of potential seizures, provides information about their brain activity, and asks questions about symptoms or behaviors that may affect their health.
“Your medical device might text you and say, ‘What did you do? Your probability of having a seizure just went up by 60%,’” Litt said in a January interview. “And you might have had a beer, or taken a new antibiotic or something like that.”
