> May 16, 2001

> Epilepsy alarm's successful field trial
>
> It started with an e-mail . A woman in <...*...> was surfing the web,
> trying to find information which would assist her epileptic Golden 
> Retriever. She found the site of DCT Associates, a South Australian company
> which specialises in medical alarm systems, and shot off an e-mail asking
> for an alarm to be adapted for her dog.
>
> Initially, DCT's Terence Cody didn't think it could be done. Three weeks
> later, he decided otherwise. He picked a vet at random from the Yellow
> Pages, who suggested Terence contact Dr Georgina Child, Specialist in
> Veterinary Neurology, at the Veterinary Specialist Centre, North Ryde, in
> Sydney.
>
>
> The alarm, says Dr Child, is most suited to dogs that are "not well
> controlled on medication . or have had an episode of status epilepticus".  As
> a test subject, she suggested one of her patients, William, a seven-year-old
> Beagle diagnosed with epilepsy 12 months ago.
>
> Says Dr Child: "He's of a breed that has a very high incidence of inherited
> epilepsy. It's impossible in dogs to prove whether epilepsy is genetic or
> acquired, but we suspect that it's genetic because of his breed, and because
> he does and has always had generalised tonic/clonic type seizures.
>
> "We worked him up for all other causes of seizures. He didn't have any
> metabolic abnormalities. We did an MRI scan of his brain looking for a
> tumour, and his brain looked normal. So we've backed into a diagnosis of
> epilepsy based on that. Since he has been diagnosed, he has continued to
> have seizures intermittently, and sometimes in clusters, which is his
> biggest problem.
>
> "He is a dog that can be difficult to medicate," she continues, "because
> he's pretty adept at hiding the tablets in his mouth and spitting them out
> later . He is being treated with anticonvulsants; he's currently on
> phenobarbitone and potassium bromide and still seizures fairly regularly .
> We're still working on his drugs to try to get better control."
>
> The alarm's "first big trial" came earlier this year, when it picked up a
> seizure so severe it led to hospitalisation. "Certainly the seizures can be
> life threatening," says Dr Child, "especially if he has an episode of status
> epilepticus, and he may do that because he certainly has had episodes where
> he's had one seizure after another ."
>
> William's owner, Mrs Roslyn Chapman, was initially worried that the alarm
> might not awaken her from a deep sleep, but has found that it does its job.
> Says Mrs Chapman: "For a while there, when he was first fitting, I was so
> nervous I wasn't able to get much sleep. With this on, you can go to sleep,
> because it will wake you."
>
> The alarm's designer and builder, Terence Cody, worked directly with Mrs
> Chapman when custom-building the alarm. It was, says Terence, a step-by-step
> "process of testing it out", with the alarm being placed in various
> positions until the right spot was found. The end result, explains Terence,
> is "a system that will sit on the chest of the dog, held in place by a
> walking harness - which the dogs are used to anyway - that will detect the
> presence of convulsions .
>
> "There are two 'attitude sensors' [or 'position sensors'] which isolate the
> electronics in the box while the dog is in a vertical position and walking
> around. So vibrations as a result of the dog walking or running don't
> activate the internals of the alarm. When the dog starts to convulse, it'll
> go down on its side and the attitude sensors detect this, and turn on the
> electronics. If the dog is on its side and resting, the attitude sensors
> prepare the electronics . to react to any convulsive movement."
>
> The custom-built alarm also has an adjustable time delay, which can be set
> from zero to 45 seconds, allowing for the normal movements during sleep and
> rest to be detected without setting off the alarm. "There's a very sensitive
> motion detector inside the box," explains Terence, "and convulsions activate
> this sensor, which then turns on a radio transmitter and sends the message
> to an alarm unit. The unit can have an audible alarm, a pager output, or can
> work into an auto-dialer."
>
> Dr Child put William's name forward as the ideal candidate for the alarm's
> field trial as he continues to have seizures despite being on medication,
> and "would give it a good test".
>
> "Between seizures, he's a normal, active, inquisitive, rambunctious, naughty
> beagle," says Dr Child. "If anybody's going to test a harness with a monitor
> on it, he's the one . If anyone's going to get into trouble, this dog would
> ..."
>
> For more information about Vigil-Aide alarms, visit www.dctassociates.com.au
> or call Terence Cody at DCT Associates on 08 8337 1414
> @ENDS
>