Healthcare technology: tracking, expertise and scripts. : Researchers, families and phsycians on the definition of epileptic seizure

International audienceThis article reviews an experiment with a technology designed to detect epileptic seizures. As part of a wider project run by a parents' association to open a socio-medical centre, the aim of this technology is to provide epilepsy sufferers with greater autonomy and privacy. Different people and skills work together to test the system in a family environment, the aim being to improve the seizure detection algorithm. Through tracking, family members and researchers come upon a range of definitions of epileptic seizures. These multiple definitions give rise to a debate, taking the project into the hospital and medical expertise environment where a stabilised definition of an epileptic seizure can be enacted. Beyond this, the ongoing challenge of the project, which is to transfer the technology to a socio-medical structure, underlines the importance of managing emergency situations and the issue of responsibility in the event of a seizure