Mother of two invents safety device for epileptics

A Galway entrepreneur and recent graduate is making waves in the medical device industry with her award-winning innovation EpiSafe – a monitor and alarm system for those diagnosed with epilepsy – which was inspired by the death of her own brother.

As part of her Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing course, 40 year old mother of two Audrey Holland undertook the Innovation, Creativity and Enterprise module in her final year at NUI Galway.

Through this module she was required to engage in group based projects with the aim to develop a unique enterprising idea – which in Audrey’s case went back to a tragic loss in her own family a short while beforehand.

Audrey’s brother Trevor Tierney tragically passed away from an epileptic seizure in March 2014 aged just 30.

“My brother Trevor passed away from a seizure and I suffer from a milder form of it myself, so I know how vulnerable it can be for someone with epilepsy,” she explained.

Now, under Audrey’s leadership, her group developed a unified epilepsy monitoring and alarm system called EpiSafe, which won the first place Innovation, Creativity and Enterprise Award in 2015.

The concept of EpiSafe is the amalgamation of modern hardware and software design to monitor the triggers of an epileptic seizure in a non-invasive way.

“I had an engineering friend who was a great help in terms of the hardware side of the project,” said Audrey.

Wirelessly connected to the user’s phone, the device is worn on the wrist and gathers data related to the user’s blood oxygen level, heart pulse rate and movement to determine the factors that triggers a seizure.

The device will then trigger an alarm to notify user selected individuals or services in the event of an epileptic seizure.

EpiSafe was also one of top ten finalist innovations at the Irish Student Entrepreneur awards in 2015.

At the moment, the company is now in an important stage of development and is seeking funding from investors in order to advance to the next stage of production, including developing a prototype and carrying out clinical trials.

The device may well be adapted for cardiac patients in the future, as the modifications needed wouldn’t be too dissimilar to the original device, explained Audrey, but for the moment the aim is to obtain funding for EpiSafe’s development.

In addition, Audrey is also applying for an all-female funding grant from Enterprise to help with the development.

The recent graduate admits that though the research isn’t easy, she thoroughly enjoyed working on the device and looks forward to the development stage.

“I wouldn’t say it’s easy work but, like anything in the world, if you have an interest in what you do, it’s easy.”

According to Irish Health statistics there are currently up to 40,000 people who are estimated to suffer from epilepsy in Ireland, while the debilitating condition affects approximately 50 million people worldwide.

One of the major concerns for sufferers and their family members is the associated vulnerability and potential danger that comes with the sporadic nature of epileptic seizures.

Naturally, this can have a serious impact on the quality of life of all concerned and more importantly, can have a detrimental effect on the ability of the individual with epilepsy to live an independent lifestyle.

“Anything that can help someone lead a more normal and independent life is definitely worth the work put in,” she explained.

Audrey is heading up to Dublin later this month for a networking evening run by the Accenture Leaders of Tomorrow Programme and will be talking to a number of budding female entrepreneurs.

Her EpiSafe company is one of the first start-up companies involved with the Galway entrepreneur incubation programme StartX6 run by Dave Cunnigham, winner of the Top Outstanding Young People of Galway Award with JCI Galway.

The innovation hub enlist creative individuals with a business proposition every six months, who are then supported, mentored and driven to the launch of their business by StartX6’s panel of experienced professionals and entrepreneurs.