Cardiff: A new study has found that a smartwatch can prevent the onset of epilepsy symptoms by up to seven years It can diagnose the disease years ago.
Using artificial intelligence in the study, the researchers monitored the movement speed of the participants over seven days and predicted who might develop the disease in the future.
The world’s fastest-growing neurological disease, epilepsy, is a condition in which parts of the brain become dysfunctional over time.
Symptoms of this disease are both physical and psychological, including involuntary movements of hands and feet, slowness of movement and muscle stiffness. Patients may also experience loss of balance, loss of sense of smell, memory problems or insomnia.
The new study, led by scientists from the UK’s Dementia Research Institute and Neuroscience and Cardiff University’s Mental Health Innovation Institute, collected data from 13,712 people. Between 2013 and 2016, the men wore a medical-grade smartwatch for seven days.
These watches calculated the average speed of each individual and compared it with data from a group that had been diagnosed with epilepsy. The artificial intelligence model was capable of predicting more time.
The researchers are optimistic that this new technology could be used as a screening tool in the future, which would help diagnose the disease in less time than current diagnostic methods and start treatment sooner.
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