Worldwide first absence seizure tracker becomes available to Australian families

Tuesday 14 July 2020 - Hasselt (Limburg), Belgium / Ballarat (Victoria), Australia

EIT Health 2019 winner epihunter launches collaboration with Seizure Alert Australia to make their product available to more than 35.000 Australians with absence epilepsy.

epihunter absence seizure trackerMore than 250,000 people are living with epilepsy in Australia, of which 1 in 7 are having difficult-to-notice absence seizures. Such seizures are different from tonic-clonic (convulsive) seizures, and are typically shorter in length, with a brief loss of consciousness. Even though this type of seizure usually does not lead to physical injury, it has a major impact on the wellbeing of the person and in e.g. a classroom situation children with such seizures are often falling behind and are misunderstood. Epihunter is the first product that automatically detects absence seizures using wearable EEG technology. 

“The interest in our absence seizure tracker comes from all over the world. Australia has been on our list for some time, and we are pleased to have found a reliable and respected partner in Seizure Alert Australia. It’s unique and extremely meaningful that both companies are founded by parents of a child with epilepsy,” says Tim Buckinx, epihunter CEO & co-founder.

Seizure Alert Australia offers a number of products to assist Australians affected by epilepsy. Today epihunter’s solution becomes available in whole Australia and New Zealand.

Wendy & Paul Crack - Seizure Alert Australia - photo: Private“Through our e-commerce platform, Australian families can order epihunter’s home-to-use products and have it delivered to their doorstep in a matter of days. Not to mention, epihunter may be able to be funded through NDIS for eligible participants,” says Wendy Crack, Seizure Alert Australia Director, “we will be only a phone call or online message away for any questions before and during epihunter use. Obviously, as affected by epilepsy ourselves we will always be open for a chat and questions on epilepsy and its daily life impact,” Wendy Crack continues.

More than 35.000 Australians can benefit from epihunter’s absence seizure tracker. The core of the product is an Artificial Intelligence algorithm, which upon detection will signal, video-record and log seizures in real-time

“This is good news for children, youth and adults with absence seizures”, adds Buckinx, epihunter CEO, “with currently more than 150 users in the UK & Ireland, Belgium and the Netherlands, epihunter has proven its value by bringing back self-confidence, building independence and improving the communication between the person with epilepsy, their caregivers and physicians, says Buckinx.

Epihunter, which last year earned the European CE mark as a class I medical device, is today also launching a new offering towards the B2B market. epihunter Pro portal for the physician

“We are today launching epihunter Pro, a novel service towards European paediatricians and neurologists. By providing objective seizure insights and a fully automatically generated seizure diary, epihunter Pro is enhancing the diagnosis of and follow-up of people with non-motor epilepsy,” says Buckinx, “next to this, our seed funding round is open and we invite interested parties to help us unleash epihunter’s potential also in other geographical markets, forms of epilepsy and neurological conditions,” Buckinx ends.


About epihunter

  • Award-winning digital health tech HQed in Hasselt (Flanders), Belgium
  • Founded by a dad of a son with epilepsy
  • EIT Health 2019 Digital Health 1st prize winner & MassChallenge 2019 cohort member
  • Launched epihunter, the worldwide first and only absence seizure tracker
  • Epihunter signals, video-records and logs difficult to notice absence seizures in real-time
  • Running a prospective clinical validation study with, among other centres, Boston Children’s Hospital (US) and University Hospitals Leuven (Belgium) with funding from the Epilepsy Foundation of America.
  • www.epihunter.com

About Seizure Alert Australia

  • Offers a range of epilepsy products, including epihunter, to people in Australia & New Zealand
  • Founded by parents of a daughter with epilepsy
  • Based in Ballarat (Victoria), Australia
  • For orders from Australia & New Zealand: www.seizurealertaustralia.com.au/epihunter

 

Contact information

Tim Buckinx (CEO and founder, epihunter) - tim.buckinx@epihunter.com

Wendy Crack (CEO, Seizure Alert Australia) - info@seizurealertaustralia.com.au 

 

For arrangement of interviews

Hogne Ulla (International Sales & Community Manager) - hogne.ulla@epihunter.com / +32 492 40 85 82 


Media kit including press pictures

Download press release (PDF)