Comparison of subspace-based methods with AR parametric methods in epileptic seizure detection

Electroencephalography is an important clinical tool for the evaluation and treatment of neurophysiologic disorders related to epilepsy. Careful analyses of the electroencephalograph (EEG) records can provide valuable insight and improved understanding of the mechanisms causing epileptic disorders. The detection of epileptiform discharges in the EEG is an important component in the diagnosis of epilepsy. In this study, we have proposed subspace-based methods to analyze and characterize epileptiform discharges in the form of 3-Hz spike and wave complex in patients with absence seizure. The variations in the shape of the EEG power spectra were examined in order to obtain medical information. These power spectra were then used to compare the applied methods in terms of their frequency resolution and the effects in determination of epileptic seizure. Global performance of the proposed methods was evaluated by means of the visual inspection of power spectral densities (PSDs). Graphical results comparing the performance of the proposed methods with that of the autoregressive techniques were given. The results demonstrate consistently superior performance of the proposed methods over the autoregressive ones.