Multiparametric detection of epileptic seizures using Empirical Mode Decomposition of EEG records

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder that affects around 50 million people worldwide. The seizure detection is an important tool for the diagnosis of epilepsy. In this study, an epileptic seizure classification method based on features of the Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) of EEG records is proposed. The Intrinsic Mode Functions (IMFs) of EEG records are first computed, and then several time and frequency features of IMFs are extracted. A features selection based on a Mann-Whitney test and Lambda of Wilks criterion is performed, then these parameters are used in a linear discriminant analysis (LDA) to classify epileptic seizure and normal EEG segments. The algorithm was tested in 3 intracranial channels EEG records acquired in 21 patients with refractory epilepsy and validated by the Epilepsy Center of the University Hospital of Freiburg. The signal was divided in 15 s segments. In 45517 segments analyzed (689 with epileptic seizures) the sensitivity and specificity obtained with this method were 69.4% and 69.2% respectively. It could be concluded that the developed method could be a promising tool for epileptic seizure detection in EEG records.