Abrazo West Campus is the first hospital in the greater Phoenix area with the Ceribell point-of-care EEG system that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help quickly detect non-convulsive seizures.

Non-convulsive seizures can progress to non-convulsive status epilepticus, which may cause irreversible brain damage and may go unrecognized due to a lack of obvious symptoms. Electroencephalograms (EEG) measures electrical activity in the brain using electrodes attached to the scalp.

Powered by machine learning AI and typically used in the ICU or Emergency Department, the first use of the technology at Abrazo West Campus was on an ER patient who was having an active seizure not visible to the eye.

When equipped with Clarity, a machine learning algorithm, the Ceribell system can interpret EEG signals and will provide audible and visual alerts when continuous seizures indicating status epilepticus are detected, according to its manufacturer.

“When clinically suspected, Ceribell bands can be applied to the patient’s head at bedside and the AI can detect seizure right away with very high clinical accuracy,” explained Dr. Sushant Kale, medical director for Neurology and Stroke at Abrazo West Campus.

“This enables the bedside clinician to treat the patient hours before they otherwise would have done it with traditional setup,” he said. The EEG is also available for neurologists to see in in real time on a HIPAA compliant smartphone app.

Continuous AI monitoring sends alerts for dangerously high seizure indications. EEG information is streamed to a portal and via smartphone app for remote seizure and medication management.

“Subclinical seizures are a type of seizure where a patient is having a full blown seizure in the brain but does not have any physical or clinical manifestation from it, which means the patient is not having a typical epileptic fit, so it is very hard to diagnose clinically,” said Dr. Kale. 

EEG should be administered within 15-60 minutes of suspected status epilepticus in all patients, according to the Neuro Critical Care Society. EEG is also recommended for adult post-cardiac arrest care.

“The new EEG system adds to the hospital’s ability provide timely interventions for individuals with neurological concerns, and is the result of our continued investment and advancement in neurosciences to produce quality outcomes Abrazo West Campus,” said Hospital CEO Hans Driessnack.