Detection of spectral instability in EEG recordings during the preictal period

The study of EEG recordings during the interval prior to an epileptic seizure onset--the preictal period--is likely to detect changes in the ongoing brain activity consistent with seizure anticipation. A novel index of spectral instability (ISpI) based on multiple abrupt changes of EEG spectral features is presented here. Based on the analysis of control records, robust M-estimates are used to calculate the threshold and avoid false warnings. The results obtained with a small data set (three patients, ten preictal records per patient) have shown that the ISpI index provided a warning flag that anticipated the seizure onset by 13.1 (SD = 4.0) min on average.