Long-term EEG investigations can take days or weeks to plan and perform, and studies in the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU) are more dangerous in today’s environment. As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, hospitals around the world have tightened their controls.
The future of EEG investigations is no longer in hospitals but in the homes of many patients (particularly those who just require scalp EEGs and are not having their antiepileptic medication discontinued). In-home ambulatory video-EEG investigations are more important than ever before in terms of safety, comfort, and efficiency.
Safety During COVID-19
While hospitals are suspending elective surgeries to prevent COVID-19 from spreading, it makes sense to employ all available technology to limit contact. The more patients who are protected from COVID-19 cases, the better we will be able to contain the outbreak. In-home EEG monitoring by Seer Medical keeps patients out of the hospital, limits their exposure to one EEG Technologist, and provides the same high-quality diagnostic recordings as an EMU. The EEG Technologists who provide home-based EEG services adhere to CDC requirements, which include utilizing appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) and infection control practices, such as having the patient wear a proper face mask. During this period of uncertainty induced by the coronavirus, hospitals and patients can benefit from home-based EEG services in a safe and effective manner.
Consistent
Consistency is one of the many benefits of in-home ambulatory EEG monitoring. According to research released by the British Epilepsy Association, 73 percent of in-home EEG recordings were able to provide enough information to answer diagnostic queries; in-hospital EMU EEG devices performed similarly, with 73 percent. Having a consistent, trustworthy recording is the foundation of good patient evaluation and treatment, and it gives both doctors and patients a sense of security.
Technology
Remote connections via 4G cell phone services and even secure connections using a patient’s Wi-Fi router are supported by current video-EEG digital recording technology. It uses this technology to create clean, dependable EEG recordings at the patient’s home with a digital video that can be monitored remotely from practically anywhere to ensure a high-quality study is taken.
Being in a hospital can cause a patient as much stress as it does for their doctors and nurses. The “hospitalization anticonvulsant” effect might be triggered by a busy EMU or simply a hospital-like setting. This well-known effect can diminish the chances of catching seizure occurrences while in the EMU, thereby delaying a timely diagnosis. Monitoring a patient at home increases the likelihood of their experiencing the triggers for their convulsive behavior, allowing EEG recordings to collect the information needed to appropriately diagnose and treat the patient. As a result, the enhanced convenience of in-home video-EEG monitoring research can also improve the study’s productivity.
