Camera to record Seizure Activity

[idgaf13]

I have Gran Mal Seizures and live alone,this makes recording of specifics difficult.
The idea of utilizing a camera to record my sleep patterns was presented to me ,since I seem to have the greatest frequency of seizures in the morning.
I just had an Magnetic Resonance Imaging of my skull and a 24 hour Electro enceplogram done last week.
The doctor had the tests done as an evaluation tool to determine if surgery is an option.
I am getting nervous and would like to be able to supply better info to the Doctor but the seizures blank my memory of the previous 24 hours.

So the problem is how to record ,and with what equipment ,meaningful data (the events) and not junk(regular sleep).

 

[Geniere]

A google search for "seisure sensor" located several sites selling bed motion sensors specifically designed for detecting seisures. I believe it would be easy to use such a device to trigger a video camera/recorder. I also stumbled across a site that trained dogs react to their master having a seisure. Again, some further traing could allow the dog to trigger the camera. I favor the dog approach as it could serve as a companion and alert others to your problem.

If you do manage to tape a seisure, I would have the doc view it before you do, maybe edit it. It may be too disturbing to witness your distress.

 

[gsaldivar]

I would think that the best solution would be using setting up your computer to digitally record a time-stamped video record of you as you sleep.

With a computer, it should be easy to organize, compress, and archive these clips - without the hassle of buying and storing cassette tapes. If your doctor wants a copy, simply burn the video files to DVD. With some of the newer software, you can even setup a password-protected web site that you can post video clips to in real-time, giving your doctor "instant" access to your sleep patterns!

With modern security-camera software, there should be an option to only record moving images. That way, you don't have to worry about wasting hard disk space on non-moving images of you lying in bed.

I'll search around, and post back if I find any video software that might be suitable for you.

Good luck!


BTW ... I think your problem warrants a cross-posting in Software. Mods?

 

[gsaldivar]

Here are some software links I found. Most of these packages will allow you to set up "motion detection" recording to hard disk with practically any webcam you might have.

Pick up a webcam on E-Bay or something, and try downloading some of these demos ... Post back and let us know if any of these worked for you:

Active WebCam
Digi-Watcher
WebCam Monitor
Capturix Videospy
SoftSite32

 

[dkozloski]

When they did a sleep study on my son who also has seizures, my wife stayed with him at the hospital for several days. The boy was wired for EEG. My wife just swapped out several tapes until the boy seized and we had the required record. The doctors wanted the EEG and the video to be time coded so the data could be studied synchronized. My understanding was that the video was not worth much without the EEG. That's why the study was done while the boy was admitted.