Wavelet analysis of EEG for three-dimensional mapping of epileptic events

This paper is aimed at understanding epileptic patient disorders through the analysis of surface electroencephalograms (EEG). It deals with the detection of spikes or spike-waves based on a nonorthogonal wavelet transform. A multilevel structure is described that locates the temporal segments where abnormal events occur. These events are then visually interpreted by means of a 3D mapping technique. This 3D display makes use of a ray tracing scheme and combines both the functional (the EEG but also its wavelet representation) and the morphological data (acquired from computed tomography [CT] or magnetic resonance imaging [MRI] devices). The results show that a significant reduction of the clinical workload is obtained while the most important episodes are better reviewed and analyzed.