SPEAC System

Digitizing Electrical Signals to Hear the Brain

First in Class Seizure Monitoring System

The SPEAC® System is the first-of-its-kind monitoring and alerting system designed to help you, your epilepsy caregiver and your physician better manage your seizures. It is the first non-EEG, physiological, signal-based seizure monitoring system cleared by the FDA. A lightweight, non-invasive wireless monitor worn on the biceps muscle records surface EMG (sEMG) signals that have been shown in clinical studies to reflect the activation of the motor cortices. It alerts your caregiver when you may be having a GTC seizure. Once recorded, the clinical information can then be reviewed and interpreted by your physician. To learn more about how the system works.

Is the SPEAC System Right For You?

Accurate seizure counts are critical for epilepsy management. Studies have shown that up to 55% of all seizures are not documented by patients (Hoppe, 2007). Over 80% of seizures at night are not recorded (Janz, 1962). To manage your seizures effectively and get them under better control, your doctor needs to know when you are having them, what type they are, and how long they are lasting. The SPEAC System can help.

Fastest GTC Seizure Alarm on the Market

The SPEAC System has the fastest GTC seizure alarm on the market—shown in a clinical study to alarm within 5.3 seconds of a potential GTC seizure event. Unlike non-FDA cleared consumer products, the SPEAC System’s algorithm works during the identification of tonic activity allowing it to alarm faster. During a seizure emergency, response time is critical as most GTC seizures only last from 60-120 seconds. In a clinical study, the SPEAC System demonstrated 100% sensitivity when compared with vEEG, and a false alarm rate of 1.5 every 24 hours. Click to see the full Product Specifications.

HOW THE THE SPEAC® SYSTEM WORKS

It all starts with the SPEAC surface electromyography (sEMG) monitor which must be on top of the belly of your biceps muscle. This lightweight, non-invasive monitor continuously senses and monitors your sEMG signals which reflect the activity in the motor cortices of your brain. The sEMG monitor takes 1,000 sEMG samples every second. Brain Sentinel’s SparkSenseTM diagnostic algorithm analyzes those samples in real time, looking for tonic-clonic muscle activity that is indicative of a GTC seizure. Once recorded, the data are sent to and stored securely by Brain Sentinel where we begin analyzing all the hours of data. At the end of a monitoring period, your physician will receive a summary report to help with the diagnosis and clinical decisions.

The biceps muscle acts as an amplifier for the motor cortices of the brain. These regions of the brain are hyperactivated when tonic-clonic seizures generalize. When activated by a GTC seizure, the SPEAC monitor – using our patented SparkSense algorithm – can identify it, record it, and alarm for it. For the SPEAC monitor to work properly, it must be placed on the biceps muscle.The belly of the biceps is the thickest part of the muscle, about halfway between your shoulder and elbow.The only place for the sEMG monitor is on your biceps muscle, specifically on top of what is called the “belly of the biceps” as seen in the above image. To find the belly of the biceps, bend your arm at the elbow and make a fist.

sEMG Is More Than Motion – It Goes Beyond What’s Skin Deep

During the tonic phase of the generalized tonic-clonic seizure, your muscles clench. Movement may be so subtle that an accelerometer or other motion detectors wouldn’t be able to pick up that a seizure is occurring. Changes in your sEMG might be the only signal that a GTC seizure has begun. In addition, signal analyses that are conducted on your recorded sEMG may reveal other motor events that weren’t alarmed in real-time.

In real-time, the SPEAC System’s patented SparkSense algorithm gives you:

  • Real-time sampling of your sEMG signal 1,000 times a second (1,000 Hz)
  • Real-time analysis of changes to your sEMG that may be indicative of a GTC seizure

It’s Time to Control Motor Seizures

Reporting your seizure history and details about each event is a challenge. That’s how the SPEAC® System can help speak for you. For each identified event of interest, the SPEAC System provides several data points to help physicians diagnostically characterize and interpret what it was.

Objective data points include:

  • Seizure counts
  • Time and date stamps of the motor events of interest
  • Tonic phase duration of GTC seizures
  • Clonic phase duration of GTC seizures
  • Area Under the Curve ratios of the tonic and clonic phases
  • Audio recording (when captured by the System)

Subjective data points include:

  • Post-ictal Assessment of the event (when captured by the System)
  • Seizure diary entries of the event (when captured by the System)