Abstract
Epilepsy is a chronic neurological condition affecting over 50 million people worldwide and poses a significant health challenge. It is estimated that up to 70% of people living with epilepsy could live seizure-free if properly diagnosed and treated. Clinical Electroencephalography (EEG), a commonly used tool that supports seizure monitoring, has challenges such as high cost, limited availability, and discomfort.
Recent advancements in non-EEG wearable devices offer promising options for people with epilepsy and their caregivers in order to support daily monitoring and improve quality of life. Existing non-EEG devices primarily target Generalized Tonic-Clonic Seizures (GTCS) associated with Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP). Such devices include muscle movement detectors (electromyography (EMG) devices) and accelerometer-based motion detectors. Currently, available devices that provide remote monitoring include: SPEAC©, Seizure Link©, Inspyre©, Epi-Care mobile©, and Shimmer©. However, the usability of the patch electrodes as well as tight-fitted smart wearables can lead to skin irritation and discomfort and impact the long-term use of these monitoring devices. To address these challenges, our exploratory study focuses on designing textile embroidered electrodes ‘textrodes’ as a sensing means to obtain and record human EMG muscle movement data.
The textrodes were designed using a ZSK technical embroidery machine in conjunction with EPC-win software. The software digitization of the textrodes involved three stitching layers: (1) an outer boundary outlining the textrode shape; (2) a less dense stitch layer stabilizing the structure; and (3) a top layer of highly dense and compact embroidery stitches. The textrode machine embroidery design was fabricated using a ZSK technical embroidery machine. An additional layer of 3D foam was added between the base fabric and interfacing layer, and conductive embroidery layers. Adding a 3D element to the textrode design provides ease of contact with the skin, enhances breathability through maintaining skin impedance, and offers comfort for the long-term wear of smart garments.
Myoclonic seizure is a type of motor-related seizure characterized by quick jerking movements, contractions, or twitches. This sudden contraction and relaxation of muscles mainly affect the neck, shoulder, and upper arms. Following the creation of the 3D layered textrode, such textrodes can be embedded into smart garments for the purpose of measuring muscle movements at specific placement points. During testing of the 3D textrode, EMG muscle movement of the lower limb and upper limb arm of a healthy individual was analyzed in order to assess the functionality of the 3D textrodes at set placement points on the upper and lower limb. Cross-analysis of the textrodes versus market-available medical-grade electrodes interconnected to the commercially available Shimmer wearable device was completed.
Preliminary findings suggest that the embroidered textrodes provide a more user-friendly and wearable means to measure muscle movement linked to epilepsy monitoring. This smart wearable garment, for digital remote monitoring, supports better outcomes and has the potential to empower individuals to self-managing seizures digitally. Future work will involve co-designing an advanced smart wearable leveraging the textrodes in order to create a smart garment capable of EEG monitoring and cluster-based EMG muscle data analysis.