Seizure detection in the newborn [ 2005 - 2007 ]

Research Grant

Researchers: Prof Paul Colditz (Principal investigator) ,  Dr Barbara Lingwood ,  Dr Christopher Burke ,  Prof Boualem Boashash ,  Prof Stephen Rose

Brief description Newborn babies are at risk of becoming short of oxygen during delivery. Death or brain damage may result. In the days after birth, when the brain is attempting to recover from the lack of oxygen, seizures (also called fits) are common. Seizures may cause further damage to the brain because they release damaging chemicals such as glutamate or because they make extra energy demands on the brain that cannot be met. It is difficult to be certain whether unusual movements or twitches are seizures or not. To detect seizures, it is necessary to measure the EEG, the tiny electrical signals from the brain that can be measured from the scalp using small stick on electrodes. It is difficult to measure EEG, particularly for longer periods, because the electrodes may fall off, the baby may move excessively or electrical interference may ruin the recording. We are proposing to measure EEG for 48 hours in babies who have suffered a lack of oxygen during delivery. We will develop, optimise and implement a new method of automatically detecting seizures, building upon 6 years of fundamental signal processing research work that we have done in the newborn. We will test this system against the 'gold standard' to determine how accurate it will be in detecting seizures. We will also try to find out whether damage in particular areas of the brain or in particular cell types within the brain is most likely to be associated with seizures. The anticipated outcome is that we will be able to accurately identify seizures. This is a major step on the path to being able to prevent injury to the brain and to monitor the effectiveness of new experimental treatments.

Funding Amount $AUD 728,250.00

Funding Scheme NHMRC Project Grants

Notes Standard Project Grant