"An electronic bracelet can prevent tens of thousands of deaths due to epilepsy"

The high-tech Nightwatch bracelet is the result of research carried out by scientists from the Dutch Tele-epilepsy consortium. The bracelet detects 85% of severe nocturnal epileptic seizures. According to the researchers, it is a score much better than any other available technology.

The bracelet test was performed in epileptic patients with intellectual disability. This happened on average 65 nights per patient. The bracelet triggers the alarm only during serious attacks.

Also filmed

Patients were also filmed to see if Nightwatch had missed attacks. This has shown that the bracelet reports 85% of all serious attacks

For comparison, a test was performed with the current detection standard, a bed sensor that responds to vibration. This sensor only reported 21% of serious attacks. A lot less result. In addition, it was found that patients encountered only a few obstacles with Nightwatch. Nursing staff was also supportive of their use

Nightwatch in basic insurance?

The scientific journal Neurology published the results of the research. The scientists involved expect that the number of unexpected nocturnal deaths in patients with epilepsy as a result of Nightwatch decreases considerably. According to Johan Arends, research director, professor of neurology at the Eindhoven University of Technology, this system can save up to ten thousand lives when it is applied worldwide.

SUDEP (sudden unexpected death in epilepsy) is a leading cause of death in epileptic patients. In patients with intellectual disability and incurable epilepsy, it is even possible that 20% die. The head of research, Arends, hopes that the search results will allow Nightwatch to be part of the basic package of Dutch health insurance.

Cooperating parties

Various parties collaborate within the Telepilepsy consortium. It is the Kempenhaeghe Expertise Center, the Eindhoven University of Technology, the Dutch Foundation for Epilepsy Institutions (SEIN), the University of Applied Sciences of UMC Utrecht and the fund for epilepsy. Livassured patient representatives are also connected. This company was created to market Nightwatch and has been involved in research since 2014.