Review Article
Application of mobile phones in epilepsy care
Lakshmi Narasimhan Ranganathan
a,*
,
Somasundaram Aadhimoolam Chinnadurai
a
,
Balasubramanian Samivel
a
, Bhanu Kesavamurthy
a
,
Man Mohan Mehndiratta
b
a
Institute of Neurology, Madras Medical College, Chennai 600003, Tamilnadu, India
b
Department of Neurology, Janakpuri Superspeciality, New Delhi, India
article info
Article history:
Received 6 October 2014
Accepted 10 February 2015
Available online 11 March 2015
Keywords:
Seizure detection
Diagnosis
Treatment
Compliance
abstract
Objectives: To evaluate the applications of mobile phones in the day to day care of epileptic
patients as a diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic tool.
Methods: Detailed search of various mobile applications in the field of epileptology was
made in MEDLINE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, EMBASE, CINAHL, LI-
LACS and corresponding developer websites of mobile applications were also looked into
regarding their technical specifications and user friendliness.
Results: A plethora of apps are available across various mobile platforms especially
Android, iOS and Windows. Careful selection and application of such apps by both the
healthcare providers, the epileptic patients and their caregivers with proper understanding
of their potential benefits as well as limitations will result in better diagnosis, prognosis
and treatment of epilepsy.
Conclusion: The field of medicine is rapidly inculcating advanced cutting edge technologies
for better diagnosis of diseases and better targeted therapy to such diseases. Hi tech
electronic gadgets, in particular, are now becoming part and parcel of patient care in many
specialties. The advent of the modern portable computers has revolutionised almost every
specialty. The field of mobile technology is advancing with a break neck pace, with increase
in mobile subscribers, advanced handsets practically like digital personal assistants with
advanced capabilities. The possibilities of using such rapidly evolving mobile technology in
the field of medicine are endless. This article explores such possibilities in the field of
epileptology after analysing the current and existing applications of mobile phones in care
of the epileptic patients worldwide.
Copyright © 2015, Indian Epilepsy Society. Published by Reed Elsevier India Pvt. Ltd. All
rights reserved.
1. Introduction
The field of medicine is rapidly inculcating advanced cutting
edge technologies for better diagnosis of diseases and better
targeted therapy to such diseases.
1
Hi tech electronic gadgets,
in particular, are now becoming part and parcel of patient care
in many specialities. The advent of the modern portable
computers has revolutionised almost every speciality.
* Corresponding author. 3/5 Subhiksha Sai Kribha, Sri Krishnapuram Street, Royapettah, Chennai 600014, India.
E-mail address: lakshmineuro@gmail.com (L.N. Ranganathan).
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
ScienceDirect
journal homepage: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/international-
journal-of-epilepsy
international journal of epilepsy 2 (2015) 28 e37
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijep.2015.02.002
2213-6320/Copyright © 2015, Indian Epilepsy Society. Published by Reed Elsevier India Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved.