Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

Epilepsy occurs in 1% of Canadians and causes recurrent seizures that reduce quality of life. It affects daily tasks and relationships and can also increase risk of death.   In 30% of patients with epilepsy, medication fails to control seizures. For some patients, surgery has a high chance of stopping seizures. A multi-disciplinary team (MDT) decides whether a patient can be offered surgery. This team includes many individuals with different backgrounds. Information from different sources (i.e., brain scans, brain activity recordings, seizure descriptions, etc.) is discussed.  Brain imaging may not be helpful, so not everyone can be offered surgery. This research uses advanced brain imaging and analysis techniques called arterial spin labelling (ASL) to help. ASL will be used to measure brain blood flow. Variation in blood flow can show where seizures come from.  The findings will be combined with other information to create 3D models of the brain. These can then be used to help decision making. We will then determine the benefits for decision-making. For example, we will assess whether the number of patients offered surgery has changed when compared to current numbers. Additionally, we will assess the changes in patient health outcomes after surgery. This research aims to increase the number of patients who can have surgery and reduce disease burden.