A debilitating and often deadly disease, Epilepsy causes 50,000 deaths in the United States every year. With wearable technology on the rise, new medical patches, like an epilepsy patch, can be worn on the skin or like a watch and monitors and interprets data to find seizure triggers and disperse medication.

Dialog: The Epilepsy Patch

Dialog, just one epilepsy patch on the market today, is equipped with sensors that collect activity and physiological data on the epileptic patient and surroundings to predict conditions that are most likely to trigger a seizure which can be viewed on a companion iPhone app. With the data, the epilepsy patch can help manage symptoms but also alert loved ones and doctors when an epileptic seizure occurs. Made by the tech company Artefact in Seattle, this patch and app aims to help epileptic patients be able to live a freer life and not in constant fear of an attack.

Life Patch: Child’s Seizure Monitor

The Life Patch was made as an inexpensive and easy alternative to monitor temperature in children who suffer from febrile seizures the disposable patch, or “brain unit,” is placed on a child’s skin and connects to a “Relay Unit” via a nano-bluetooth chip. Then using a smartphone or internet ready device, parents can monitor their child’s core body temperature and receive alerts when their temperature reached an unsafe level. Using this technology, the minds behind Life Patch hope to develop a epilepsy patch to assist others who suffer within the next year.

Electronic Skin: The Future of the Epilepsy Patch

Researchers have been developing the ultimate wearable technology device in “electronic skin.” This skin patch is the first of it’s kind to not just store information but also deliver medicine. Created to act and feel like a tattoo on the skin at the University of Texas in Austin, researchers hope that continued work on the electronic skin could eventually become a epilepsy patch to track movements and aid in the event of a seizure.

If you or someone you know suffers from epilepsy or seizures, technology patches like these can make living with epilepsy and other seizure inducing conditions easier. For more information and ways of living with a debilitating disease, visit Living Well With Epilepsy.