Wristband Sensors Can Detect, and Possibly Predict, Life-Threatening Seizures
Skin Conductance Sensors as Wristbands M. Scott Brauer Some seizures briefly incapacitate, while other seizures can be deadly. Knowing the difference is obviously of grave importance, but figuring out which is which is difficult. So a team of MIT Media Lab researchers have developed a wristband that can tell the difference between the more benign breed of seizure and the one that might kill you, and may even be able to predict seizures before they strike. The wristbands work by measuring skin conductance, or the ease with which electrical current can pass through the skin. Skin conductance changes for a variety of reasons mostly tied to how much you're sweating. And purely by accident, one of the researchers found that skin conductance spikes during and even before a seizure. Further experimentation and data gathering told the researchers a few more things related to skin conductance. For one, there's evidence that what defines...