AI Tool Detects Brain Lesions Causing Severe Epilepsy in Children

An advanced AI tool can detect tiny brain lesions that cause severe epilepsy in children, allowing for faster diagnosis, more precise treatment, and a potential cure, according to a new study.

developed by a team at Murdoch Children’s research Institute (MCRI) and Teh Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH),the ‘AI epilepsy detective’ can find lesions (focal cortical dysplasias) the size of a blueberry,in up to 94 percent of cases with the support of medical imaging.

MCRI’s Dr. Emma Macdonald-Laurs, a RCH neurologist, who led the team that created the detector, said more accurate diagnosis of cortical dysplasia woudl lead to faster referrals for epilepsy surgery, fewer seizures, and improved long-term developmental outcomes.

Identifying the cause early lets us tailor treatment options and helps neurosurgeons plan and navigate surgery. With more accurate imaging, neurosurgeons can develop a safer surgical roadmap to avoid important blood vessels and brain regions that control speech, thinking, and movement, and remove only the affected brain tissue. Children also avoid the need for invasive testing.

Dr. Emma Macdonald-laurs, a RCH neurologist

Published in Epilepsia, the MCRI-led study involved 71 children at the RCH and 23 adults at the austin Hospital with cortical dysplasia and focal epilepsy, which causes recurring seizures.Before using the AI detector, the study found 80 percent of patients had their diagnosis missed by human examination of their MRI results.

MRI and FDG-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET scans) were used to train the detector, with children separated into training and test cohorts.