Epileptogenicity Mapping: A Quantitative Approach to Identify the Seizure Onset

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Biomedical Engineering
• Signal Processing

Background:

• Presurgical evaluation of focal refractory epilepsies relies on accurate spatial mapping of the seizure onset zone (SOZ) and propagation networks.
• Current SOZ identification primarily depends on visual inspection of intracranial electroencephalogram (iEEG) data by neurophysiologists.
• Limitations in visual inspection can lead to delays and potential inaccuracies in SOZ localization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review recent quantitative iEEG analysis methods for SOZ detection.
• To present the implementation of these methods in Brainstorm software.
• To enhance the accuracy and efficiency of SOZ identification in epilepsy presurgical evaluations.

Main Methods:

• Review of quantitative iEEG analysis techniques exploiting signal and image characteristics.
• Exploration of feature extraction from iEEG data.
• Implementation and demonstration within the Brainstorm software environment.

Main Results:

• Quantitative iEEG analyses offer improved and expedited SOZ detection.
• Various methods utilizing signal and image features have been proposed by different research groups.
• Brainstorm software now incorporates advanced quantitative iEEG analysis tools.

Conclusions:

• Quantitative iEEG analysis represents a significant advancement over traditional visual inspection for SOZ identification.
• The integration of these methods into software like Brainstorm facilitates their clinical application.
• Improved SOZ mapping can lead to better surgical outcomes for epilepsy patients.