October 2, 2018

Whole-Brain Connectome Maps Teach Artificial Intelligence to Predict Epilepsy Outcomes

Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) neurologists have developed a new method based on artificial intelligence that may eventually help both patients and doctors weigh the pros and cons of using brain surgery to treat debilitating seizures caused by epilepsy. This study, which focused on mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), was published in the September 2018 issue of Epilepsia. Beyond the clinical implications of incorporating this analytical method into clinicians’ decision making processes, this work also highlights how artificial intelligence is driving change in the medical field.

Despite the increase in the number of epilepsy medications available, as many as one-third of patients are refractory, or non-responders, to the medication. Uncontrolled epilepsy has many dangers associated with seizures, including injury from falls, breathing problems, and even sudden death. Debilitating seizures from epilepsy also greatly reduce quality of life, as normal activities are impaired.

Epilepsy surgery is often recommended to patients who do not respond to medications. Many patients are hesitant to undergo brain surgery, in part, due to fear of operative risks and the fact that only about two-thirds of patients are seizure-free one year after surgery. To tackle this critical gap in the treatment of this epilepsy population, Dr. Leonardo Bonilha and his team in the Department of Neurology at MUSC looked to predict which patients are likely to have success in being seizure free after the surgery.

Neurology Department Chief Resident Dr. Gleichgerrcht explains that they tried “to incorporate advanced neuroimaging and computational techniques to anticipate surgical outcomes in treating seizures that occur with loss of consciousness in order to eventually enhance quality of life”. In order to do this, the team turned to a computational technique, called deep learning, due to the massive amount of data analysis required for this project.

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