![]() And in fact, even someone who’s doing little more than lying in bed-as Morgan McGrath was doing one fateful day in November 2016-can still experience a fatal complication called “sudden unexpected death in epilepsy,” or SUDEP. These are the people that Embrace is aimed at because an unexpected seizure while driving or swimming can lead to disastrous outcomes if no one is there to notice. But according to Lai, the company chose to start with monitoring convulsive seizures because they’re the most deadly.Īround one-third of all people with epilepsy cannot currently manage their attacks with anti-seizure medications. The company is also currently validating the technology for “partial” seizures, and for tracking stress levels that might trigger an attack. Empatica scientists published much of their clinical data last year. When tested on 135 patients who were monitored for a collective total of more than 6,500 hours, the device correctly identified nearly every single seizure, with a false alarm rate below that of the seizure frequency for most individuals. Embrace comes in five colors, two of which have quickly become bestsellers: “Bright pink and bright blue are very popular with kids,” says Matteo Lai, CEO and cofounder of Empatica, which announced its device’s regulatory clearance this week.įor now, Embrace is only proven to accurately detect generalized clonic-tonic seizures, also known as grand mal seizures. Subscription plans for the service start at about US $9 per month, and the hardware itself costs $249. ![]() The app then sends a distress signal-either a text message or phone call -to one or more pre-specified caregivers.Īn app allows Embrace users to build an automatic epilepsy diary. The Embrace smartwatch records these electrical signals along with 3-axis accelerometer data, and uses a proprietary algorithm to signal when someone is having a convulsive seizure.ĭuring an attack, the device’s square face vibrates, a ring of LEDs spins, and an alert gets sent via Bluetooth to a smartphone in the wearer’s pocket. These spikes in electrical activity originate in the brain, but can be measured noninvasively on the surface of the skin. The wrist-worn sensor tracks many of the same things as a FitBit or an Apple Watch, but the new device has one important feature that other wearables do not: It also detects surges in skin conductance, an indicator of disturbances in the nervous system that are triggered during an epileptic attack. regulators have approved the first piece of consumer tech for a neurological condition: a medical-grade smartwatch that monitors for dangerous seizures and sends an alert to summon a caregiver’s help.
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