PetPace, maker of wearable technology for pets, announced a new “objective, innovative, and automated” program, PetPace Bio-Response for Epilepsy, that will allow pet owners to examine how pet biometric data changes in relation to seizure events. Epilepsy is a common condition affecting millions of dogs. As dogs spend many hours unobserved, it is difficult for pet owners to know the frequency of seizures a dog suffers. As a result, veterinarians are challenged to formulate treatment plans for epileptic patients without knowing the actual scope or frequency of seizures. As part of the PetPace Bio-Response for Epilepsy program development, PetPace is working with a large group of epileptic dogs and their owners to collect hundreds of seizure events and their correlated PetPace Smart Collar data. PetPace Bio-Response for Epilepsy collects and analyzes a range of physiological and behavioral data from owner-reported seizure events, including changes in pulse, respiration, temperature, activity, positions, HRV, and more. The PetPace analytic engine analyzes the relevant biometrics using advanced mathematical models and machine learning techniques, and provides key statistical indicators, measures, and graphical patterns that can then be used to detect future seizures, according to the company. “This technology has the potential to change the way caregivers relate to and treat epileptic dogs and cats,” said Asaf Dagan, DVM, DABVP, PetPace’s chief veterinarian. “The powerful combination of caregiver input and PetPace advanced analytics may open the door for remote, automatic detection of seizures, and ultimately to significant improvement in the management of this unfortunate condition.” “Leveraging the data collected by the dog’s smart collar and using machine learning and big data models holds a great promise for the future of care,” said Mickey Scheinowitz, Ph.D., previous chair, Department of Biomedical Engineering and founder/director of the Biomedical Technology Innovation Program at Tel Aviv University.
