Australian Epilepsy Project using AI to improve outcomes for people with epilepsy

A new project in Australia is using AI to fast-track the time between diagnosis and seizure control, with the aim of improving outcomes for people with epilepsy. Advancements in technology are enabling the Australian Epilepsy Project to crunch decades of data and compare it with a patient's medical imaging, family history, cognitive and genomic markers.

According to the Clinical Director of the Florey, Professor Graeme Jackson, it has been able to detect abnormalities like brain lesions in 10 per cent of cases which would otherwise have been given the all-clear. As well as analysing MRI scans, the team also use saliva samples. 

The process leans on several AI components, each of which can be replaced when the technology advances. Currently the process takes 20 hours and runs on some of Amazon's most powerful cloud computers. Amazon Web Service) has built medical models into its platform to make processes like this easier to set up. Amazon has committed to invest $20 billion upgrading Australia’s cloud infrastructure by 2029. 

The company had already committed to spending $13.2 billion upgrading Australia's cloud infrastructure between 2023 and 2027. 

While Epilepsy Society welcomes innovations in research and improved treatments, Professor Matthias Koepp, welcomed the news with caution noting that: “While AI has been used for quite a while for detecting lesions, which are not easily visible to the human eye, it cannot replace the knowledge and expertise of humans, yet.”