Bengaluru, Oct 2 (TIWN) Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have joined hands with AIIMS Rishikesh to create an algorithm that can help decipher brain scans and identify the occurrence and type of epilepsy.

Epilepsy is a neurological condition where the brain emits sudden bursts of electrical signals in a short amount of time, resulting in seizures, fits and sometimes even death.

Based on the point of origin of the brain's erratic signals, epilepsy is classified as either focal or generalised epilepsy. Focal epilepsy occurs when the erratic signals are confined to a specific region in the brain. If the signals are at random locations, then it is termed as generalised epilepsy, an IISc statement said.

"The research aims to differentiate EEG of normal subjects from epileptic EEGs. Additionally, the developed algorithm attempts to identify the types of seizures. Our work is to help the neurologists make an efficient and quick automated screening and diagnosis," says Hardik J. Pandya, Assistant Professor at the Department of Electronic Systems Engineering (DESE) and the corresponding author of the study published in Biomedical Signal Processing and Control.

During the course of their study, the team noted a novel algorithm that can sift through EEG data and identify signatures of epilepsy from the electrical signal patterns.