In the case of Drug-Resistant Epilepsy (DRE),  seizures cannot be mitigated via medications but only via surgical intervention. Epilepsy surgery can be anticipated by Stereo-Electroencephalography (SEEG), a preliminary intervention that enables the direct recording of electrical activity in deep cortical structures. This procedure returns a multi-dimensional signal with hundreds of components, each associated with a different cortical site. The final goal is to identify the Epileptogenic Zone (EZ), which is the cortical area that is at the same time necessary and sufficient for the seizure initiation.

In the last few years, many quantitative tools, e.g., based on signal processing and network science, have been proposed in support of SEEG interpretation. A well-established practice is to represent SEEG signals as graphs where the synchronization levels between different channels determine the magnitude of the links interconnecting different nodes. However, the scientific community has still not found an agreement on which biomarkers are more effective for characterizing the epileptogenic components of SEEG signals. This project involves the analysis of SEEG signals from DRE patients and targets the definition of new connectivity biomarkers that lead to the detection of the EZ

For more information, contact Federico Mason at federico.mason@unipd.it